Mogadishu, (InsideSomalia.org) Somali government blamed AlShabaab for a mortar attack on Saturday targeting Somali President Abdullahi Yusuf, says government spokesman.

A civilian was injured in the attack after a mortar shell battered his home close to the presidential palace were the president moved in soon after he arrived in the capital on Saturday, said Husein Hubsired, the presidential spokesman.

The president was confirmed unharmed but several mortars landed near the presidential palace.

"Al-Shabab, which is linked to al Qaeda, was responsible for this attack targeting the president."

The Somali president went to London for medical treatment last month and made a brief stopover in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

AlShabaab, an Islamic insurgent group whose fighters fought allied Somali government and Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu did not haste to comment on the allegation.

Union of Islamic Courts has claimed responsibility for six mortars that hit the Mogadishu seaport last night.

Abdirahim Ali Mudey, former Information Secretary of the ousted UIC said they targeted the seaport because a ship docked there brought weapons and other materials for the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

In exclusive interview with Radio Simba he dismissed comments by an AMISOM spokesman, who told reporters that the mortars were "launched from Bakara market."

None of the AU peacekeepers were wounded in the attack, but five Somalis suffered injuries during the blasts, according to the AMISOM spokesman.

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