Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf escaped unhurt from a mortar attack by Islamist insurgents on his official residence in Mogadishu, his spokesman said.The interim government and its Ethiopian allies are battling gunmen loyal to an Islamist movement that ruled Mogadishu and much of southern Somalia for six months in 2006 before being ousted by the allied forces. "The president was at the palace when several mortars landed near the house. The president is safe," said spokesman Hussein Mohamud Hubsired. "Al-Shabab, which is linked to al Qaeda, was responsible for this attack targeting the president," he told Reuters.
Al-Shabab, which opposes the presence of foreign troops on Somali soil, has been waging an Iraq-style insurgency. The attack took place hours after Yusuf arrived in the coastal capital from a trip abroad for medical treatment. The 73-year-old, who had a liver transplant nearly 14 years ago, left Somalia on January 4, a month after a chest illness sparked a health scare.