SOMALIA | CONFLICT | TERRORISM

MOGADISHU - A blast and gunfire has been heard in an ongoing attack at the mayoral offices in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police and witnesses said.

"Terrorists blasted a vehicle loaded with explosives onto a perimeter wall of the Mogadishu mall which is next to the Banadir administration headquarters," police officer Abdullahi Mohamed said as witnesses said gunfire was still ringing near the mayor's office.

The attack ha sleft at least six people killed by al-Shabaab militants at the mayor's office in central Mogadishu, police have said.

A suicide bomber set off a huge blast that tore through building near the office complex with gunfire erupting afterwards, Somali police spokesman Sadik Dudishe said at the end of the four-hour siege.