By Mohammed Dhaysane
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - Three people, including two police officers were killed and five others were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the Somali parliament in the capital Mogadishu Saturday evening, a regional administration official said.
The parliament is located close to the presidential palace.
Abdifatah Halane, a spokesman for the Banadir regional administration, confirmed the suicide attack to Anadolu Agency over the phone.
“What I can confirm you is three people, [including] two officers and suicide bomber were killed, and other five people were injured. The wounded people were rushed to Madina Hospital,” Halane said.
An eyewitness Abdukadir Mo’alim told Anadolu Agency that the explosion was followed by gunfire. “I was at an IDP [internally displaced people] camp nearby where the incident took place… I heard a huge explosion followed by gunbattle,” Mo’alim said.
The attack came 25 days before Somalis participate in the general elections.
The al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility for the suicide blast via its Andalus radio channel, but it contradicted the government toll, saying the attack left “over 17 soldiers” dead.