The Somali Interior Ministry has confirmed that two South Africans are among the 15 people killed in an attack on the United Nations (UN) Compound in Somali’s capital, Mogadishu.

Somalia’s al-Qaeda linked al-Shabaab insurgents have claimed responsibility for the attack. It is the first major attack targeting the UN since the agencies started relocating to Mogadishu after a 20-year absence.

The compound, which includes both residential and office areas is a short distance from the airport, which is the base of the African Union troops. The compound is guarded by its own security officers.

The Somali government and the African Union Mission for Somalia have condemned the attacks terming them cowardly and futile attacks. AMISOM says the attacks will not deter the mission’s collective efforts to continue supporting the people of Somalia rebuild their country.

Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon condemned the brazen daylight raid as a “senseless and despicable attack on innocent UN civilians”.

Shebab fighters, who boasted about the killings, used both a car bomb and suicide attackers to blast their way into the fortified base in central Mogadishu near the airport.

UN sources said one staff member and two contractors were killed along with at least two Somali security guards, although the nationalities of the foreigners could not be immediately confirmed.

Security warnings of an attack have been in place for weeks, and UN staff regularly practise sheltering in a secure bunker inside the compound.

“Our commandos attacked the UN compound … we set off an explosion and entered the compound,” a senior Shebab official told AFP, saying they entered to attack “the infidel forces.”

Somali and African Union troops later moved into the complex – despite the Islamists battling back with heavy gunfire – to end the hour-and-a-half siege.

“The situation is under control… Somali soldiers along with African Union forces stormed the compound and killed the attackers,” said Somali police official Abdulahi Osman.

He said three civilians were confirmed killed, caught in the crossfire in the streets near the compound.

UN sources said one staff member and two contractors were killed along with at least two Somali security guards, although the nationalities of the foreigners could not be immediately confirmed. – Additional reporting by Sapa-AFP