Rocket attack on Somali capital kills at least 3

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - At least three people were killed and two others were wounded in an attack on the Somali capital Tuesday with improvised rockets, said an official.

“The attack was by rockets. The attackers used an unconventional method to launch the rockets and they were fired from the outskirts of Mogadishu. One of the rockets landed on a civilian house, killing three family members, including the father,” said Somali police spokesman Major Sadiq Aden Ali Doodishe, who spoke by phone to Anadolu.

At least two other people were wounded and were rushed to a hospital for treatment.

Doodishe said the police have not identified the target of the attack but have arrested one suspect after an operation conducted by security forces.

The Somali General Kahiye Police Academy and other security offices are located near where the rockets landed.

Media affiliated with the al-Shabaab terrorist group reported that it claimed responsibility for the deadly attack and said it targeted the Somali presidential palace in Mogadishu, which has previously been targeted by al-Shabaab with mortar attacks.

Al-Shabaab has intensified its attacks in the country, targeting African Union peacekeepers and Somali government troops since Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared an “all-out war” against the terror group last year.

In early June, 54 soldiers from Uganda serving under the African Union’s peacekeeping mission in Somalia were killed during an attack by al-Shabaab in the town of Bulo Marer, some 110 kilometers (68 miles) south of Mogadishu.

Since Mohamud's declaration, the army has liberated large swathes of territory from the terrorists in the country’s south and central provinces, including the strategic coastal town of Harardhere, which has been under the group’s control for more than a decade.

The terrorist group also launched a deadly attack targeting a popular hotel in Mogadishu in June, which marked the fourth major attack by the group in the country in less than two weeks.

The group has been fighting the Somali government and the African Union mission in Somalia since 2007.

Somalia has been plagued by insecurity for years, with the main threats from al-Shabaab and the Daesh/ISIS terrorist groups.