Al Shabaab kills 8 policemen in Somalia

Al Shabaab militants raided a police station and killed as many as eight officers in a town on the outskirts of the Somalian capital, authorities said.

Local police officer Mohamed Ali in Afgoye town told Xinhua that the gunmen stormed the station on Saturday and engaged in a gun battle, killing eight officers and injuring three civilians who were nearby.

Our officers retaliated, but we lost eight of them in the shootout, Ali said.

Residents said the battle lasted for close to three hours.

"We could not leave our homes because we could hear gunfire from the police station," said one of the residents.

Al Qaeda-affiliated militant group Al Shabaab later claimed responsibility, saying that they had killed ten policemen and captured four cars.