There were no immediate details on casualties. Police would provide more details on the attacks.

An attack by the Al Shabab extremist group on Wednesday killed six people and wounded 16 on the outskirts of Somalia's capital, police said.

Somalia’s government said the early morning attack targeted police and checkpoints outside of Mogadishu.

The Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab often targets Mogadishu, and the United Nations and other international observers have warned that the group would take advantage of Somalia’s current election crisis to launch more attacks.

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The Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab often targets Mogadishu, and the United Nations and other international observers have warned that the group would take advantage of Somalia’s current election crisis to launch more attacks.

National elections have been delayed for more than a year.

"The terrorists attacked the suburbs of Mogadishu and targeted our police stations and check points," Abdullahi Nor, the minister, wrote on Twitter.

Explosions went off in Somalia's capital Mogadishu in the early hours of Wednesday.

"Our security defeated the enemy."

Al Shabaab, which aims to topple the central government and impose its severe interpretation of Islamic law, carries out frequent attacks against the government, including attacking a minibus carrying election delegates last week.