Suicide bomber kills six police officers in Somali capital - Police

MOGADISHU: A suicide bomber killed six police officers in front of a district police station in the Somali capital Mogadishu late on Sunday, police said, in an attack they blamed on the Al Shabaab militant group.

"Six police officers including the commander of the Waberi (district) police were confirmed dead and six others were injured in the blast," Somali police spokesman Major Sadiq Aden Ali Doodishe told a news conference.

He added that the suicide bomber, who blew himself up, was acting on behalf of Al Shabaab. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack from the militant group.

The Al Shabaab insurgency has battled since 2008 to overthrow Somalia's internationally-backed central government and establish its own rule based on a harsh interpretation of Islamic law.

It carries out regular gun and bomb attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in Somalia.