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Shebab insurgents on Saturday demanded a double car bomb attack near the Somali presidency, the latest raid by al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadists.
A first explosive-laden car hit a barrier another vehicle exploded at another checkpoint near the main entrance of the presidential palace in Mogadishu, said Abdulahi Ahmed, a senior local security official.
Attackers then attempted to move towards the presidential complex, prelude to exchanges of fire with the local security forces, added the official.
"Three attackers were killed and two vehicles exploded, we have no more details," Ahmed said, adding that many civilians were wounded in the new raid.
Somali Shebab , an armed group affiliated with al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement. The Shebab had already claimed last week an attack against the Ministry of Security, fatal to five civilians according to the local police.
The Shebab have sworn the loss of the federal government, backed by the international community and the 20,000-strong force of the African Union in Somalia (Amisom).
Chbaded from Mogadishu in 2011, they then lost the essential of their bastions. But they still control large rural areas from which they carry out guerrilla operations and suicide bombings, including in the Somali capital.
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