MOGADISHU - At least 19 people were killed in the Somali capital on Sunday in bomb attacks carried out by militants linked to al Qaeda and subsequent gun battles with the al Shabaab fighters, breaking a fragile return to peace in Mogadishu. MOGADISHU - At least 19 people were killed in the Somali capital on Sunday in bomb attacks carried out by militants linked to al Qaeda and subsequent gun battles with the al Shabaab fighters, breaking a fragile return to peace in Mogadishu. A bomb exploded outside law courts in the city as gunmen stormed the compound. Security forces then arrived and battled the fighters inside. Later, a bomb exploded near an African Union and Turkish Red Crescent convoy on the way to the airport. Al Shabaab said it carried out the attacks. "About seven well-armed men in government uniform entered the court today as soon as a car bomb exploded at the gate. We thought they were government soldiers," said Aden Sabdow, who works at the mayor's office adjacent to the court. "Armed men entered the court and then we heard a blast. Then they started opening fire. We do not know the number of casualties," said Hussein Ali, who works at the courts. Somali forces arrived and laid siege to the compound and there was a second blast while the two sides exchanged gunfire. Hours later, the shooting stopped, but government forces said they believed some fighters were still hiding inside. Reuters reporters counted 16 bodies around the compound, some of them in uniform, some not, but it was not clear how many of them were government soldiers, attackers, or civilians. Witnesses at the scene said in addition to the car bombs, three of the gunmen who stormed the court also blew themselves up using explosives strapped on their bodies. Security in the coastal capital has improved greatly since al Shabaab fled the city after an AU and Somali government military offensive in August 2011. Now its rubble-strewn streets are choked with traffic and constructions sites point to a new confidence as Somalis from abroad and invest in their homeland. But the threat persists from al Shabaab, which still controls much of the countryside. "We carried out a superb intense mission in Mogadishu today. We killed 26 people including soldiers and court staff," said al Shabaab spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage.
