Twin Blasts Kill Five Near Airport in Somali Capital, Police Say

A huge explosion was heard near the Aden Abdulle International Airport, formerly known as Mogadishu International Airport in Somalia.

Somali terror group al Shabaab, which wants to establish an Islamic emirate based on a strict form of Islam, told regional news channel Al Jazeera it had carried out the attack. It regularly reports higher death counts than the authorities.

A suicide attacker set of a vehicle bomb near an African Union peacekeeping base in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Tuesday, near the city’s airport, police said.

“We understand at least seven from a private security firm died”, said Ali Farah, a police officer.

One of the attackers set off a vehicle bomb and the other tried to storm the base but was shot-and exploded-before he was able to get inside, according to the news agency.

The Somali government is fighting al-Shabab militants in several parts of the country, with help of African Union forces. There was no immediate comment from the United Nations.

Somalia’s Al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab has carried out a string of similar attacks.

People arriving on worldwide flights said the blasts shattered windows in the airport buildings. “We have killed dozens of them”, Abdulaziz Abu Muscab, a spokesman for the group, said.