Over 20 killed in Al-Shabaab attack on Somali gov't building

Six soldiers and 15 civilian were killed in the attack on a government building that houses two Somali ministries in Mogadishu, authorities have said.

Security ministry spokesman Mohamed Yusuf said the soldiers were killed when they confronted the attackers who had stormed the education headquarters after destroying the wall using a bomb- laden car.

The building houses the ministry of education and ministry of petroleum and minerals.

"We lost five Somali security forces and one African Union Mission in Somalia soldier. All the attackers were also killed as they tried to access the building," Yusuf told reporters.

The spokesman said there were seven attackers, two of them died in the car when it exploded while the other five were killed in the building by security forces.

Abdulkadir Abdirahman, director with Mogadishu Ambulance Service told Xinhua that they collected 15 bodies from the scene and found 20 others wounded.

"Some of the wounded suffered serious injuries and lost a lot of blood," he said, adding that some civilians were killed in a roadside tea shop when the car exploded.

Somali militant group Al-Shabaab have claimed responsibility for the attack. Endi