Another suicide vehicle bomb exploded near a United Nations building in the same area in the twin attack, which killed at least 13 people.
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A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden auto outside the United Nations Mine Action Service offices in Mogadishu, killing 10 people, including seven U.N. guards, a Somali police official says Tuesday.
Witnesses noticed a thick plummet of smoke rising from the area and officials revealed that the site of the attack is the base for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).
The other bomb struck outside an army checkpoint, staffed with Somali forces, the wire service says. Seven were United Nations security guards.
Details of the number of blasts and casualties were not immediately clear.
Al-Shabab’s spokesman told al-Jazeera that the terrorist organization had carried out the attack to kill “occupying” foreign forces.
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), established in 2007, aims to stabilize the country and combat al-Shabab.
The country’s government has relied heavily on the African Union’s peacekeepers for protection.
AU troops have been engaged in a long, bloody war against Somalia’s local al-Qaida affiliate, Al-Shabaab, which claimed responsibility for the blasts.
A security source told VOA that private security guards charged with protecting United Nations personnel outside the AU compound were also at the checkpoint at the time of the attack.
Although Al Shabab was ousted from Mogadishu in 2011, it continues to wage a deadly guerrilla campaign.
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The Shabaab group is blamed for a string of bloody assaults in Somalia and neighbouring Kenya, and is fighting to overthrow Mogadishu’s internationally-backed government.
