Suicide bomber kills several police officers in Somalia's Mogadishu

A suicide bomber has killed six police officers in front of a district police station in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, in an attack claimed by the Somalia-based Al Qaeda-affiliated group Al Shabab.

"Six police officers including the commander of the Waberi (district) police were confirmed dead and six others were injured in the blast," Somali police spokesperson Major Sadiq Aden Ali Doodishe said late on Sunday. 

Al Shabab claimed responsibility for the assault but said they had killed five police personnel.

"Our target was to kill police commanders and we killed five police (personnel) including the commander of the Waberi police station," Abdiasis Abu Musab, Al Shabab's military operations spokesperson, told Reuters news agency on Monday.

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Terrorist attack

Somali Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, who is currently in the holy city of Mecca in Saudi Arabia performing Umrah, or the minor pilgrimage, condemned the attack.

"I condemn the terrorist attack on the Waberi district police station. I extend my condolences to the families and the people of Somalia on the loss of lives and property. May God have mercy on the dead and heal the wounded," Roble said in a short statement posted on Twitter.

Al Shabab has battled since 2008 to overthrow Somalia's internationally backed central government and establish its own rule.

It carries out regular gun and bomb attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in Somalia.

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