<p class="title">Somali security forces shot dead three extremists and foiled an attempted al-Shabab attack on the presidential palace in the capital, a police officer said on Saturday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Six people were dead in all including a suicide car bomber, Capt. Mohamed Hussein told The Associated Press, saying the situation had calmed and security in the area was being tightened.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The midday attack began when a car bomb detonated near a checkpoint close to the presidential palace after security forces engaged with gunmen. A second car bomb exploded in the same area shortly afterwards, Hussein said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The attack came a week after a similar one on the interior ministry compound in Mogadishu killed at least nine people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Somalia-based al-Shabab extremist group, an arm of al-Qaida, often targets high-profile places in the capital. It claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack, saying its fighters were conducting a "major operation" around the palace and nearby SYL Hotel. Al-Shabab was blamed for the October truck bombing in Mogadishu that killed more than 500 people in the deadliest attack in the country's history.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The threat from what has become the deadliest Islamic extremist group in sub-Saharan Africa has hurt efforts to strengthen Somalia's fragile government and stabilize the long-chaotic Horn of Africa nation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The United States under the Trump administration has stepped up military efforts in Somalia, including dozens of drone strikes, against al-Shabab and a small presence of fighters linked to the Islamic State group. At least two U.S. military personnel have been killed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The US military and others in the international community have expressed concern about the plan for Somalia's security forces to take over the country's security from a multinational African Union force over the next few years, saying the local troops are not yet ready. </p>
<p class="title">Somali security forces shot dead three extremists and foiled an attempted al-Shabab attack on the presidential palace in the capital, a police officer said on Saturday.</p>.<p class="bodytext">Six people were dead in all including a suicide car bomber, Capt. Mohamed Hussein told The Associated Press, saying the situation had calmed and security in the area was being tightened.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The midday attack began when a car bomb detonated near a checkpoint close to the presidential palace after security forces engaged with gunmen. A second car bomb exploded in the same area shortly afterwards, Hussein said.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The attack came a week after a similar one on the interior ministry compound in Mogadishu killed at least nine people.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The Somalia-based al-Shabab extremist group, an arm of al-Qaida, often targets high-profile places in the capital. It claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack, saying its fighters were conducting a "major operation" around the palace and nearby SYL Hotel. Al-Shabab was blamed for the October truck bombing in Mogadishu that killed more than 500 people in the deadliest attack in the country's history.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The threat from what has become the deadliest Islamic extremist group in sub-Saharan Africa has hurt efforts to strengthen Somalia's fragile government and stabilize the long-chaotic Horn of Africa nation.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The United States under the Trump administration has stepped up military efforts in Somalia, including dozens of drone strikes, against al-Shabab and a small presence of fighters linked to the Islamic State group. At least two U.S. military personnel have been killed.</p>.<p class="bodytext">The US military and others in the international community have expressed concern about the plan for Somalia's security forces to take over the country's security from a multinational African Union force over the next few years, saying the local troops are not yet ready. </p>