Suicide bomber. Illustrative.
Suicide bomber. Illustrative.Flash90

At least 5 people have been killed in an attack involving a suicide car bombing and subsequent gunfights in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu. In addition, 4 of the terrorists associated with the al-Shabaab Islamist group were also killed.

A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the gates of the Criminal Investigation Department headquarters in Mogadishu, reports Somalian police.

The explosion allowed gunmen working with the bomber to storm the police building.

Ali Hassan, a police officer at the Central Investigations Department, said the policemen in the facility managed to stop the attack by killing at least two gunmen who were storming the building.

Videos of smoke at the site were posted on Twitter. Gunfire can be heard in the background of the videos.

Terror group Al-Shabaab, which carried out two suicide bombings at a Mogadishu checkpoint last week, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

"A fighter rammed a suicide car bomb into CID then other armed fighters stormed inside. We are now fighting inside the CID building," Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, told Reuters.

Al-Shabaab is an Islamist group seeking to impose its strict view of Islam on Somalia. They have been responsible for multiple terror attacks in Somalia, Uganda, and Kenya.