Al-Shabaab claims attack on government building in Mogadishu

Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab was behind an attack on a government building in Mogadishu on Tuesday that houses the Higher Education and Petroleum Ministries, a spokesman from the group said.

Armed members of the militant group al-Shabab attend a rally on the outskirts of Mogadishu, Somalia in this February 2012 file photo.

Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab was behind an attack on a government building in Mogadishu on Tuesday that houses the Higher Education and Petroleum Ministries, a spokesman from the group said.

"We are inside and fighting goes on," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, told Reuters after attackers set off two blasts before gunmen stormed inside.

Police and government officials confirmed that the Petroleum and Minerals Ministry was in the same building as the Higher Education Ministry.

(Reporting by Feisal Omar and Abdi Sheikh; Writing by Edmund Blair; Editing by Edith Honan)