Gunmen stormed Somalia’s Education Ministry building in the country’s capital on Tuesday, engaging in a gunbattle with security guards and prompting authorities to try to rescue others who were inside, witnesses said.
The battle in the center of Mogadishu began after a car bomb exploded at the building’s main gate. A plume of black smoke rose from the area early Tuesday afternoon, and gunshots could still be heard.
Somali special forces were working to remove people from the building while the gunbattle continued, city police Capt. Mohamud Abdi said.
A man who was helped from the building, Ali Hassan, confirmed that a rescue operation was happening inside.