2 suicide car bombs near UN offices kill 13 in Somalia
Somali police officials said that two suicide bombers detonated explosives-laden cars on Tuesday outside the offices of the UN's mine-clearing agency and a Somali army checkpoint in Mogadishu, killing 13 people, including seven guards.
Somalia's Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the bombings, according to the group's Andalus radio station.
Unlike previous attacks by al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaida, gunmen did not accompany the suicide bomber, said police Capt. Mohamed Hussein. The first suicide car bomber tried to speed through the barrier at the UN office but guards shot at the car, he said. The guards at the UN offices were from a private security firm, said a police official, who insisted on anonymity because he isn't authorized to speak to the press.
