Several bombs were detonated on the main United Nations compound in Somalia by militant fighters linked to Al-Qaida, according to the Associated Press. The fighters breached the main U.N. compound in Somalia's capital Mogadishu earlier today, sparking a gun battle where at least 12 people were killed, including at least three foreigners, according to a U.N. official.
Somali security forces and African Union took control of the compound about an hour later while U.N. staff sought refuge in the bunker before being evacuated to a secure military base and airport across the street, according to Ben Parker, a spokesman for the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia. "There was not very much time to get into the safe area," he said to the Associated Press. The secure military base is U.N.-backed by African Union military forces. The U.N.'s top official on Somalia, Nicholas Key, was not on the compound during the attack.
An anonymous U.N. official said to the Associated Press that he believed three foreigners were killed, including one Kenyan and two South Africans. Shortly after the attack occurred, al-Shabab, the Al-Qaida linked military group, tweeted that its fighters "are now in control of the entire compound and the battle is still ongoing." The gun battle lasted more than 90 minutes, according to Reuters.
The compound was rocked by its first explosion at 11:30 a.m., according to Parker, during which dozens of U.N. humanitarian staff and development agencies were inside. The compound is used by agencies such as UNICEF, WHO and UNDP. One of the explosions during the attack included a car bomb that blew through most of the compound's front gate.
An Associated Press reporter who went inside the compound after the attack reported that he saw two dead bodies of what appeared to be al-Shabab attackers wearing Somali military uniforms, and a U.N. official confirmed that in seven attackers died after the battle in total. An ambulance driver, Mohamed Ali, said that he transported five dead bodies of civilians and 10 wounded people.
Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said that he is appalled that "our friends and partners" at the U.N. who are carrying out humanitarian activities would be the victims "of such barbaric violence," and an African Union official, Mahamet Saleh Annadif, called the attack on the compound "cowardly" and sent his condolences "to those that had lost loved ones."
The attack on the compound came just six months after the U.N. expanded its presence in Mogadishu, where it had previously only kept a small operation, as Islamic insurgents had controlled much of the area before being pushed out in 2011. In December, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Mogadishu wearing a bullet-proof jacket to announce his return to the U.N.'s political office at the capital.
Mogadishu fell into anarchy in 1991, and is just starting to most past its years of sustained conflict. U.N. and foreign embassies were absent from the capital for almost two decades. In 2011, African Union forces pushed out al-Shabab, and for the first time in years capital residents did not have to live through daily battles. According to the U.N., more than 1 million Somalis live in a state of humanitarian urgency or crisis.
The most recent attack on the U.N. compound highlights the fragile security situation of the U.N. at Mogadishu, and will force them to reevaluate their security and safety measures.
"It started with an earsplitting explosion, followed by heavy gunfire," Fadumo Hussein, a shopkeeper who was sitting inside her shop near the scene of the attack, said to the Associated Press. "I crouched and then crawled like an animal. I am very lucky. It was a shocking moment."
