Suicide bombers of the militant group al-Shabaab detonated two cars loaded with explosives Tuesday near the airport in Mogadishu, Somalia, killing at least 12 people, said the UN mission on rendering assistance to Somalia.

The attack occurred Tuesday morning near the perimeter of the international airport of Aden Adde in the Somali capital, in close proximity to the bases of the UN and the African Union. Responsibility for attack was assumed by the representative of the terrorist group al-Shabab, Abdulaziz Abu Musab. He said that the attack was aimed at the international peacekeeping mission.

"Al-Shabab once again led a merciless attack that claimed the lives of at least a dozen Somalis," said Michael Keating, the UN Special representative for Somalia.

"This horrific incident is a recent example of the desperate attempts of the extremists to disrupt the political progress. Neither the Somali government nor the United Nations will not be deterred from moving forward," said Keating.

Press Secretary of the government of Abdifitah Omar Halan said the Somali National news Agency (Sonna) that at least 13 people were killed and 19 were wounded and that security forces and private security guards were among the dead.

Representatives of the United States in Somalia, expressed "outrage" at the attack, and called it "another manifestation of the brutality of al-Shabaab in its efforts to destabilize the situation in Somalia." Terror group accused in the attacks in Somalia and neighbouring countries, focused on international peacekeepers, humanitarian workers and journalists, as well as defenseless targets, such as schools and churches.

The United States has designated al-Shabaab as a foreign terrorist organization in March 2008. The extremist group wants to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Islamic state.
sections: Politics, World News, Accidents, Accidents