5 killed, 7 injured in mortar shells attacks in Mogadishu
Xinhua, February 25, 2016 Adjust font size:
At least five people were killed and seven others were wounded after mortar shells landed near the Somali presidential place on Thursday, the police confirmed.
Abdikshakur Ismail, a police officer based near the palace, said the source of the mortar shells could not be easily established and that five people near the area were killed in the latest incident.
Among the five dead were a mother and two of her sons when they were killed on Thursday afternoon after mortar shells from unknown location hit a place close to Villa Somalia, said Ismail.
Ismail added some of the shells hit displaced persons' homes which are located near the president's residence.
Witnesses said they heard huge blasts and they later established that mortar shells landed.
"There were at least 8 mortar shells. Some of them landed at our village. I heard that people were killed," Mogadishu resident Sharmarke Hussein told Xinhua.
Spokesman of Benadir regional Administration Abdifitah Omar Halane confirmed the death of five people mostly comprised of one family and an Islamic teacher in the attacks.
The Al-Qaida linked group Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility of the latest attack in Mogadishu, saying they dropped nine missiles to the presidential palace. Endit