Al Shabaab mounts deadly attack on Education Ministry in Mogadishu

Eyewitnesses count at least 10 bodies among the dead.

Two weeks after a bloody raid at Kenya’s Garissa University, that claimed the lives of at least 147 students, Al Shabaab gunmen attacked Somalia’s Ministry of Education on Tuesday, April 14. Gunmen entered the complex near KM5 and KM4 junctions in Mogadishu after detonating a car bomb at the entrance.

The attack was largely covered in real time on Twitter, as several people tweeted dramatic reports of the explosions, and the ensuing response by security forces.

The Ministry of Education was previously attacked Al Shabaab in 2011 when 70 were killed. In recent weeks AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) troops moved back to guard the ministry.

At least 10 people were reportedly killed in the attack. It could have been much higher as a delegation of 50 students were reportedly visiting education officials at the ministry immediately prior to the attack.

Four attackers were held responsible.

Somalia’s Minister for Internal Security triumphantly tweeted the c0nclusion of the security response from the scene. Security forces took control of the building in approximately two hours.

Several people commented Al Shabaab’s apparent targeting of educational facilities in Kenya and Somalia.

Al Shabaab has mounted an attack on the Somali capital each month in 2015. The latest targeted government officials and claimed 17 lives.