Somalia: Mortar attack kills at least 3 civilians

MOGADISHU, Somalia

At least three civilians were killed and five wounded when a barrage of mortars targeted the UN and African Union peacekeeping mission forces (AMISOM) headquarters in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Thursday, a police official said.

Abdi Yusuf, a police officer in Mogadishu's Dharkinley neighborhood, told Anadolu Agency over the phone that several mortar shells landed in a residential area near Somali Adan Adde International Airport in Mogadishu.

Local media reported that a father and an infant were among the victims of the attack, claimed by al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab.

The targeted UN compound, known as Camp Halane, houses several Western diplomatic missions including those of Britain and the United States.

Sources in the compound who spoke to Anadolu Agency over the phone on condition of anonymity confirmed that several mortar shells also landed in and around the airport where the UN compound is also located.

Somali leaders are currently meeting in the same compound to end a months-long political and election stalemate.

This is the second time the UN compound has been targeted in less than a month, following a March 9 attack with no reported casualties.

Al-Shabaab has carried out numerous attacks in Somalia over the years, including a 2017 truck bomb blast in Mogadishu which killed at least 300 people.