Ten killed as government offices attacked

Eight civilians and two soldiers were killed in the attack in Mogadishu, said spokesman Ridwan Haji Abdiweli.

Police secured the Ministry of Higher Education office complex, said police spokesman Captain Mohamed Hussein.

The attackers stormed the education ministry’s offices after a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle at the gate of the complex, opening the way for gunmen to enter, said Capt Hussein.

The assault on the walled compound, which also houses other government ministries, is the latest attack by suspected Islamist extremists of al-Shabab, who are maintaining a series of attacks in the capital on government targets and the African Union forces who are supporting the government.

Smoke could be seen rising over the compound.

Security forces rushed to the scene and ambulances ferried wounded victims to hospital.

Meanwhile, attacks in and around Baghdad have killed at least 20 civilians, as Iraqi security forces repelled an attack by the “Islamic State” group on the country’s largest oil refinery, officials said.

Seven died when a car bomb exploded in a commercial area in the town of Mahmoudiyah, about 20 miles south of Baghdad. The car was parked in a mainly Shiite section of the town near a bakery and went off as people were queuing to buy bread. Some 13 more civilians were wounded.

Another car bomb exploded in a car park outside Baghdad’s Yarmouk Hospital, killing four civilians and wounding 10.

Three more civilians were killed and eight wounded when a bomb ripped through an outdoor market in Baghdad’s northern Sabi al-Bor area, police added.