Al-Shabaab claims suicide Car Bomb near Somali parliament

Al-Shabaab has claimed the responsibility for the car bomb attack near the parliament building in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu that killed three people and wounded six others on Saturday evening.

Al-Shabaab fighters who want to overthrow the internationally recognized Somali government were pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011.

The group’s radio station Andalus said a suicide car bomb had been driven by “a mujahid” into Sayidka junction “where what they termed a convoy of the apostate government security forces were passing.”

The attack comes only a day after a UN report on Friday warned that Al-Shabaab remained capable of launching large-scale attacks following recent claims that the group’s insurgency against the Somali state is weakening.

“Contrary to prevailing narratives of successful counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism efforts, the monitoring group assesses that the security situation has not improved in Somalia,” the report from UN sanctions monitors said.

Al Shabaab, which once ruled much of Somalia is currently fighting with Somali forces backed by African Union troops made up of soldiers from Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda, Ethiopia and other African nations.