According to reports, there was a suicide bomb attack in the office of Mogadishu Mayor, Abdirahman Omar Osman, a few hours ago.
One of Omar Osman's relative who was quoted by Reuters said the mayor had been injured in the blast.
"The blast injured many local officials including my cousin," Mohamed Abdullahi said when speaking to Reuters news agency.
"The Mogadishu mayor is also injured ... A suicide bomber walked into the meeting hall and blew up himself," Abdullahi added.
The Associated Press (AP) further reported that although many deaths were recorded due to the close impact of the blast, Mayor Osman and his deputy sustained critical injuries, and were rushed to a hospital.
Sadly, two Somalia district commissioners were among the dead.
The attack was confirmed by Police Colonel Mohamed Abdi.
It remains unknown whether it was a coincidence or part of the plan as there have been reports that the blast occurred shortly after the new United Nations envoy to Somalia, James Swan, paid a courtesy visit to the Somalia mayor.
Security forces are still perplexed as to how the suicide bomber managed to gain access into the mayor's office, fuelling the speculations that the terrorists must have had someone working on the inside.
The suicide attack took place at the Banadir administration headquarters in Mogadishu, Somalia.
Further reports have revealed that no less than seven officials were killed in the attack.
A VOA journalist, Harun Maruf, however, reports that it is yet to be firmly established whether the attack was a suicide attack or an implanted bomb.
Deadly Islamist terrorist group, Al-Shabaab confirmed that they were behind the attack.
This will no doubt go down as one of the largest high profile attacks carried out by the group. In Somalia, the city mayor is also Governor of the Benadir Region.
Somalia and other African countries have continued to suffer from the impact of an insurgency waged by the Al-Qaeda affiliated group.
Just recently, we reported the Al-Shabaab attack in the Jubaland capital of Kismayo.
The 14-hour assault was carried out in a popular hotel and led to the deaths of 26 people according to official records.
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