Somalia: Mogadishu airport attacked by Shebab

Gunfire erupted near Mogadishu airport on Wednesday as security forces clashed with gunmen trying to storm a heavily fortified area of ​​the Somali capital, witnesses said. Al-Shabaab having claimed responsibility for this attack.

Witnesses reported hearing heavy gunfire, while Somali National Television (SNTV), the country's public broadcaster, said on Twitter that " security forces are witnessing a terrorist incident at one of the main gates of the Halane complex in Mogadishu ".

“ There are gunshots in the vicinity of the airport, and we hear that it is an ongoing attack involving gunmen, we do not have details yet, but the forces of security are attacking them ," said Mohamed Ali, who works for airport security.

The airport complex houses the UN , aid agencies and foreign missions and contractors, as well as the headquarters of the African Union military mission , AMISOM.

" The movement of transport along the road inside the airport is stopped ," said Ahmed Dahir, an employee of a hotel inside the complex.

Al-Shabaab, which has waged a violent insurgency against the country's fragile government for more than a decade, said it carried out the attack. Al-Qaeda- linked militants frequently target civilian, military and government targets in and outside the capital. The jihadists have previously claimed mortar attacks on the airport complex, including in March last year when six shells hit landed within its perimeter.

In 2020, the UN said several mortar shells landed near the UN and AMISOM compound , near the airport. Nine people, including three AMISOM soldiers, were injured in a similar mortar attack targeting the compound in 2019.

Somalia, particularly Mogadishu, has seen a series of attacks in recent weeks as the country flounders in a long-delayed electoral process. The president and prime minister are at loggerheads over the vote, which is more than a year late and marred by violence.