MOGADISHU, (AA): Three people were killed and 10 injured in a mortar attack in Somali capital Mogadishu late Thursday, an official said.

The attack by suspected al-Shabaab militants saw bombs land in the city’s seaside Hamar Weyne district.

“The shells killed three civilians and injured ten others,” Ahmed Othman Toury, the district’s mayor, told the media. He said several mortar bombs landed at a traffic intersection busy with vehicles and pedestrians.

Local media suggested the attack was focused on government buildings in nearby Warta Nabada district, which has been targeted several times recently, causing civilian and security force casualties.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but al-Shabaab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, has launched similar attacks in the past.

Toury said a group of armed men were arrested shortly after the attack.

Al-Shabaab emerged from the chaos of Somalia’s civil war and in recent years has carried out a number of attacks in Somalia and neighboring countries, including Kenya.

Author Felix Nkambeh Tih

[Photo: Wounded person being treated at a hospital after car bomb attack by Al-Shabaab in Mogadishu in February. Photgrapher: Nour Gelle Gedi/AA]