At least two people, among them an elderly woman, were wounded when a series of grenade blasts ripped through a United Nations office in Mogadishu, Somali officials and eyewitnesses said on Sunday.

The militant group al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility over the attacks. According to witnesses, unidentified gunmen lobbed five grenades on the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) offices in the bullet-ridden Somali capital late on Saturday.

The offices are located at Bulo Hubey village in Wadajir district within the Somali capital.

“We thank Allah who made it easier for our Mujahidin to attack with grenades the Christian agency called the UN and we swear that we will continue targeting their offices," said Sheikh Al Nucman Alhudeyami, an al-Shabaab official.

The UN agency has not commented about the incident.

But the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) Deputy Chairman of Wadajir district Hussein Bootaan confirmed the attacks and accused the militant group al-Shabaab.

“There were no more casualties. We condemn the al-Shabaab for carrying out the attacks," he told Somalia Report, adding that security operations have since been beefed up to counter further attacks.

This is the latest in a string of blasts, including roadside bombs and grenade attacks, to hit the Somali capital in recent months.

“I was in the area when the explosions took place but I ran away. I saw a woman who was injured admitted at Madina Hospital. A young man was also injured when the security forces fired in response to the attacks,” Bile Abdi, a local resident in Wadajir told Somalia Report.

This will be the third grenade attack targeting the UNDP office in Mogadishu in less than 30 days. Two more attacks were reported earlier this month.

"There was a big explosion in the area. Then I heard several other explosions followed by gunfire," one of the witnesses told Somalia Report.

Earlier this month, unidentified gunmen attacked the main UN compound in the Somali capital.

The United Nations relocated its political office for Somalia to Mogadishu from Nairobi early this month after 17 years of its absence. The office is located in one of the most highly guarded streets in Mogadishu, connecting the presidential palace and main airport.

The militant group al-Shabaab has warned civilians against visiting the new offices.

Somalia Report

Al-Shabaab fighters training near Kismayo

The schools will remain closed for 10 days as teachers and students alike enroll for a massive military training, the locals said. "The al-Shabaab militants ordered all teachers in local schools including Quran schools in Afgoye not to open and directed all teachers and their students to join their military training," one of the residents said.

It is alleged that the al-Shabaab group aims at strengthening its force as the group continues to suffer upsets from military attacks from Kenya, TFG and Ethiopia.

According to the al-Shabaab group, the training will be carried out in Laanta Buuro within the surrounds of Afgoye District of Lower Shabelle Region.

The Islamist fighters warned that those who failed to attend would face severe punishment.

Al-Shabaab's Chairman of Afgoye District Sheikh Abu Rahma ordered the youth and elders in the region to attend the training. He said the fighters would be trained in order to fight against the Kenyan and Ethiopian military, as well as TFG and pro-government militias.

The order from the Islamist insurgents demanding schools to be closed and teachers and their students to join the frontlines comes barely weeks after group lost several key positions in the region to the TFG and its allied forces.

Jambonewspot file photo

Kenyan F-5 fighter

According to the residents, the Islamist fighters left their bases in Burdubo district of Gedo Region on Sunday after Kenyan defense forces launched coordinated air attacks on their areas recently.

The insurgents are believed to have fled to Bay Region, the locals said.

"The Islamist militants withdrew their fighters on Sunday from their bases in Burdubo district and several other villages in Gedo region after Kenyan air strikes pounded the region over the last few days," Hussein Yare, a local resident told Somalia Report.

He said he had visited two of their bases, where the fighters had vacated.

Residents said the Islamist fighters went to the Bay region, where the al-Shabaab group controlled a vast area.

Isaq Horow Hassan, Somalia’s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) official in Gedo Region confirmed Somalia Report that the al-Shabaab fighters had ran away from the district.

He said, “Yes, the enemy has escaped Burdubo district after hearing that we are on the way heading to Burdubo district." In recent weeks, Gedo Region has suffered a spate of military airstrikes targeting the al-Shabaab-held areas. Kenyan military officials claimed that more than 50 al-Shabaab fighters have been killed in the attacks.

A combined force of Somalia’s fragile Transitional Federal Government (TFG), pro-government moderate militia Ahlu Sunnah Wal Jama (ASWJ) and both Kenyan and Ethiopian troops are battling the Islamist group al-Shabaab inside Somalia.

Somalia Report

Al-Shabaab Fighters

The newly trained fighters are expected to be deployed on areas where Somalia borders with Kenya and Ethiopia respectively, particularly in Jubba and Hiraan regions, where the TFG troops supported by both Kenyan and Ethiopian soldiers have fighting against the Islamist group.

They will provide special defenses in the ongoing fighting, the group said.

“We have completed training of about 300 unrelenting Mujahidins who will soon join in the Jihad where they will stand for their brothers in fighting against the infidels," the al-Shabaab's spokesman said in an interview aired on a pro-Islamist radio station on the outskirts of the Somali capital Mogadishu.

According to a leading Somali analyst who spoke to Somalia Report the militant group has trained thousands of fighters, including child soldiers. He says the group is slowly but surely losing the ground to the TFG and its allied forces.

“This is raising more questions than answers as to whether the al-Shabaab has enough resources today," he said.

But the Islamist group's official spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohmud Rageh told reporters last week that the militant fighters were facing a string of what he termed as 'enemy' attacks, saying that they would soon launch revenge attacks.

Last Friday, the Islamist fighters vacated the town of Beledweyne after a bloody fighting with the TFG forces.

Meanwhile, other sources said the al-Shabaab fighters were forcibly enlisting ordinary people to take part in the fighting against the TFG and Ethiopian troops who forced them out from Beledweyne, the capital of Hiraan region in central Somalia.