Several injured in blast near Mogadishu mayor’s office

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At least five injured in a huge explosion on Sunday that damaged buildings near the mayor’s office in the Somali capital.

At least five people have been injured in a blast near the mayor’s office in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, with gunfire erupting afterwards, according to police and witnesses.

Witnesses said the huge explosion on Sunday damaged nearby buildings.

“Terrorists blasted a vehicle loaded with explosives onto a perimeter wall of the Mogadishu mall which is next to the Banadir administration headquarters,” police officer Abdullahi Mohamed said.

Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Aamin Ambulance Services, told Reuters news agency that ambulance staff evacuated five injured people from the scene of the blast.

The mayor’s office is located in the local government headquarters building in a well-guarded area of Mogadishu.

“We were in the office and we were deafened by a blast, we ran out, gunfire followed,” Farah Abdullahi, who works in the mayor’s office, told Reuters.

Security forces immediately put the area under lockdown but an exchange of gunfire between the army and the assailants was ongoing, an intelligence officer who only gave his name as Ahmed, told Reuters.

More to follow