Somalia Says al-Shabab Attack Kills 5 Outside Capital

A young boy runs past the wreckage of a vehicle destroyed in an attack on police and checkpoints on the outskirts of the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022. The attack by the al-Shabab extremist group on Wednesday killed five people and wounded 16, police said. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — An attack by the al-Shabab extremist group on Wednesday killed five people and wounded 16 on the outskirts of Somalia’s capital, police said.

Somalia’s government said the early morning attack targeted police and checkpoints outside of Mogadishu.

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab often targets Mogadishu, and the United Nations and other international observers have warned that the group would take advantage of Somalia’s current election crisis to launch more attacks.

National elections have been delayed for more than a year.

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The headline and summary have been corrected to show that police report that five people have died in the attack.