Somali minister among 5 killed in attack on Mogadishu government building

Five people, including the Somalia's deputy labour minister, have been killed in a militant attack on a government building in the country's capital, Mogadishu.

The al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Police captain Mohamed Hussein said lawmaker Saqar Ibrahim Abdalla was killed in his ground-floor office shortly after gunmen stormed the building.

At least five gunmen stormed the building after a suicide car bombing at the gates.

Somali security forces seized control of the building after a gunbattle and siege.

Al-Shabaab, which opposes Somalia's federal government and wants to impose its hardline interpretation of sharia law, is considered by many the deadliest extremist group in Africa.

It has carried out attacks in East Africa beyond its base in Somalia, including in neighbouring Kenya, despite having been ousted from its bases in the capital in 2011.

Last month, Osman Elmi Boqore, Somalia's oldest lawmaker, was shot dead by al-Shabaab militants in an attack in Mogadishu.