Al Shabab Militants Attack Somali Education Ministry; At Least 5 Killed

Update as of 7:20 am EDT: At least eight people were killed on Tuesday after al-Shabab militants attacked the country's higher education ministry complex in Somalia's capital city of Mogadishu, the Associated Press reported, citing police officials. The report added that police have since secured the complex.

Original story:

Somalia's al-Shabab militants attacked the offices of the country's higher education ministry in the capital city of Mogadishu on Tuesday, only two weeks after the Islamist group attacked a university compound in the eastern Kenyan city of Garissa.

“So far we confirmed five dead people including, one AU soldier, one government soldier and three civilians,” Colonel Hussein Ibrahim, a police officer, told Reuters.

The police officer also said that 10 people were injured, while at least two militants were killed. There was some uncertainty surrounding the number of dead with different reports citing various numbers.

According to police, the attackers exploded a car bomb near the wall surrounding the compound, and a heavy gun battled followed.

"A car loaded with explosives rammed the gate and there is gunfire inside the building of the ministry," a police officer told the Agence France-Presse. "There were several people lying dead at the scene."