MOGADISHU: Somalia Shebab rebels carried out a major bomb and armed assault against the country's presidential palace late Tuesday, penetrating the heavily-fortified complex before blowing themselves up.
Officials said Somalia's internationally-backed President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed were not inside the complex at the time and were "both safe". Security sources said they were with guards from the African Union's 22,000-strong AMISOM force.
"There were at least nine attackers, all have been killed, and the situation is under control, the attack is over," security official Abdi Ahmed said.
"There were eight blasts towards the end of the fighting, believed to have been suicide vests. They detonated themselves."
A Shebab spokesman confirmed that the Al-Qaeda-linked group was behind the attack, and claimed their commandos had managed to seize the president's office inside the presidential compound known as the Villa Somalia.
"Our commandos are inside the so-called presidential office," Shebab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab told AFP. "We are in control of the headquarters of the apostate regime."
"The enemy suffered high casualties during the operation, which is ongoing. The assault is a victory for us since the foreign installed government said that security was beefed up," he added.
Police said the attackers launched a two-pronged attack against the presidential complex, setting off a large bomb at the rear of the compound and then storming in via another entrance.
The attack came shortly after the start of Iftar, when Muslims end the day's Ramadan fast. Authorities gave no details of casualties on their side.
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