Story highlights Second bomb strikes people trying to help victims of the first blast

Many of the dead are students and local traders, police say

Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) A pair of suicide car bombings struck a government building in Somalia on Sunday, killing 23 people, including two attackers, authorities said.

Many of the fatalities are students and local traders who were at a nearby school and market in the town of Galkayo, police said.

One bomber rammed his explosives-laden vehicle into the main gate of the building, killing several people, local police Capt. Abdi Hassan said.

Minutes later, as people gathered to help the wounded, a second car bomb exploded. At least one police officer was killed, authorities said.

Al-Shabaab, which claimed responsibility for the bombings, wants to turn Somalia into an Islamist state.

The terror group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, which targeted a government compound housing administrative offices, police said. The group's spokesman, Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab, spoke to Andalus Radio, a pro-militant station.

Read More