Fifteen killed in Somalia al-Shabab attack

At least 15 people died and 20 were wounded in an attack in Somalia's education ministry on Tuesday, carried out by terrorists of the al-Shabab group.

The security forces and African Union (AU) soldiers gained control of the building after an hour-long attack, which began when "a car loaded with explosives rammed the gate," police official Mohamed Dahir told news agency AFP.

"The security forces and AU peacekeepers shot and killed four of the attackers, while the other two blew themselves," Somalia's security ministry spokesman Mohamed Yusuf Osman said.

Earlier on Tuesday, al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack in the Somalian capital Mogadishu. Group spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab boasted that the terror group's gunmen had been "fully in control" of the ministry and had gained entry into the neighboring oil ministry as well.

The attack is a latest in the terror organization's series of strikes, aimed at toppling Somalia's Western-backed government and replacing it with a regime based on a conservative interpretation of Islamic law.

Al-Shabab, whose name means "youth" in Arabic, carried out its another attack earlier this month at a university in Kenya's northeastern Garissa, killing 148 people, mostly students.

mg/jr (Reuters, AFP)