MOGADISHU, Somalia – Militants in Mogadishu on Saturday carried out a multi-pronged, complex attack against the country’s parliament building involving a car bomb, suicide bomber and gunmen on foot, police said.
Frightened members of parliament blamed the military for failing to prevent the attack, but other politicians praised the army for limiting the attack’s damages.
At least seven people were killed, including six attackers and one soldier who tried to stopped a suicide bomber from entering the building, said police Capt. Mohamed Hussein.
Other officials later indicated more people died in the assault but gave no figures.
Many members of parliament were inside the building as the attack unfolded, and they made a mad scramble to flee. Two were wounded by gunfire, said legislator Mohamed Ali.
Inside the parliament building, where soldiers fired from to ward off attackers, were the remnants of pure chaos: Metal chairs lay overturned with bullet casings on top of some. Bullet marks scarred the walls.
Parliamentarian Dahir Amin Jesow, who was inside parliament debating Somalia’s development bank when the attack began, said he and his fellow legislators evacuated out of the back of the building. No gunman entered parliament, he said.
Al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked group, has carried out several such complex attacks in Mogadishu, including on the city’s main court complex and attempts against the presidential palace. The group was booted out of the capital in 2011 but still controls wide areas of southern Somalia.
Gunfire and two blasts rang out near the building long after the attack began and after police had confirmed six attackers’ deaths. Security forces shot and killed four men, Hussein said. The two other attackers who died were the driver of the car bomb and the bomber on foot.
