Blood spills in Somalia with at least four dead in parliament attack

2014-05-24 162

Blood spills in Somalia, where an assault on the parliament building has left at least four people dead.

Security officials are battling the al Qaeda-linked militant group al Shabaab.

The fight started with a car bomb outside the parliament gates and was followed by a suicide bombing and a shootout.

(SOUNDBITE) (Somali) SOMALIA SECURITY OFFICER COLONEL MAHAMED DAHIR, SAYING:

"Fighting is going on inside the parliament building and we are fighting rebels inside, but we evacuated members of parliament."

Since being ousted from Mogadishu, al Shabaab has intensified its attacks in Somalia, as well as in Kenya.

Last September, the group killed 67 people in a shopping mall in Nairobi.