16 killed in attack on Somali Supreme Court
Source: AP-Excite
By ABDI GULED and JASON STRAZIUSO
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) - Nine al-Shabab Islamic extremists, most wearing suicide vests, stormed Somalia's main court complex on Sunday while the Supreme Court was in session, firing a barrage of bullets during a running gun battle with security forces that lasted two hours, officials said.
A preliminary death toll stood at 16, including all nine attackers.
The assault was the most serious in Mogadishu since al-Shabab militants were forced out of the capital in August 2011. Al-Shabab controls far less territory today than in years past, and its influence appears to be on the decline, but Sunday's attack proved the extremists are still capable of pulling off well-planned and audacious assaults.
The attack on the Supreme Court complex began at around 12:30 p.m., sparking running battles with police and army forces. Two bomb blasts were heard and gunmen were seen on the roof of a court building firing shots, an Associated Press reporter at the scene said. Police officer Hassan Abdulahi said he saw five dead bodies lying at the entrance to the court.
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Somali soldiers carry a wounded civilian from the entrance of Mogadishu’s court complex after being injured during a siege by militants in Mogadishu, Somalia, Sunday, April 14, 2013. Militants launched a serious and sustained assault on Mogadishu's main court complex Sunday, detonating at least two blasts, taking an unknown number of hostages and exchanging extended volleys of gunfire with government security forces, witnesses said..(AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
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