Somali presidential compound attacked, president safe

MOGADISHU: Islamist militants attacked Somalia's presidential compound on Tuesday with a car bomb and gunmen broke through a perimeter wall but were repulsed by security forces, and the president was not there at the time, the interior ministry said.

Up to five members of the al Shabaab Islamist group, which claimed responsibility, were killed, Interior Minister Abdullahi Godah Barre told Reuters. Three militants were confirmed dead, and one or two more were believed to have died in the car blast.