Suicide bombing targets Mogadishu mayor's office in Somalia

The attacker walked in the office of Mogadishu's mayor during a security meeting and detonated explosives strapped to his waist, killing multiple people and badly wounding the mayor, Police Colonel Mohamed Abdi told the Associated Press.

Mayor Abdirahman Omar Osman and his deputy were rushed to hospital with critical wounds and two district commissioners were among the dead, police Captain Mohamed Hussein said.

Al-Jazeera reported that at least eight people were killed in the attack on Wednesday afternoon.

It is unclear how the bomber was able to enter the mayor's office.

No one has yet claimed the bombing, but government officials and buildings such as the presidential palace are routinely targeted with bombings by al-Shabab.

The al-Qaeda-linked group, which opposes Somalia's federal government and wants to impose an extreme interpetration of sharia law, is considered by many to be 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 Mogadishu in 2011.

The Somalia-based group was chased out of Mogadishu years ago but still controls parts of the Horn of Africa nation's south and central regions and is a frequent target of US airstrikes.