An attack by suicide bombers on Mogadishu’s airport has left up to 14 people dead, including the five people who orchestrated the attacks. According to reports, a suicide car bomber detonated his vehicle in front of the airport gates, approximately 500 meters from the main terminal. A second vehicle then approached from which between two and four people got out and started running towards the terminal.

Two suicide bombers, who were dressed as Somali soldiers, managed to force their way into the grounds of the airport after which they proceeded to run towards the terminal. The African Union, the force protecting Somalia’s current government, said the bombers were brought down approximately 200 meters from the terminal where both managed to detonate their explosive vests.

Among those killed in the attack were four Somali police officers and two soldiers from the African Union force. The Somali government has confirmed that three civilians were also among the dead.

According to Dahira Kheyrow, a beggar who was near the airport when the car bomb went off, two of the dead were her friends. She described how when she got up to run after the explosion she saw her companions lying in pools of their own blood with badly burnt faces.

Responsibility for the attack has been claimed by the ultra-extreme al-Shabab. Spokesman for the militant group, Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage, said the suicide bombings were aimed at a meeting taking place at the airport between UN officials, members of the African Union and Somali government officials.