Six dead and Mogadishu mayor wounded in bombing at his office carried out by al-Shabab jihadists

Six people were killed and the mayor of Mogadishu was wounded in a bombing at the mayoral offices in the Somali capital on Wednesday, in an attack claimed by al-Shabab jihadists to have been targeting a UN envoy.

United Nations special envoy James Swan had met the mayor, Abdirahman Omar Osman, and left just before the blast at the headquarters of the Banadir district, which encompasses Mogadishu, according to the mission’s Twitter account.

“Six people, including two district commissioners and three directors, were killed in the terrorist attack this afternoon,” Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir Mareye told reporters.

As well as the mayor, five others, including district commissioners, were injured in the blast and being treated by doctors.

“I deplore this heinous attack which not only shows a violent disregard for the sanctity of human life, but also targets Somalis working to improve the lives of their fellow Somalis in the Mogadishu-Banadir region,” Swan said in a statement, confirming he had been in the building earlier in the day.

The al-Qaeda linked al-Shabab jihadist group claimed responsibility for the “well-prepared operation”, saying they were targeting Swan.