Bombs rock Mogadishu

ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)

STORY: At least 16 people were killed as two car bombs exploded outside the law courts in Somalia's capital Mogadishu and gunmen stormed the building on Sunday, before a gunbattle erupted with security forces besieging the compound, witnesses said.

A large blast hit an area near Mogadishu airport hours later, residents said.

It is not immediately clear who carried out the attacks, but al Shabaab militants linked to al Qaeda have claimed responsibility for a number of suicide bombings in Mogadishu this year.

Somali police commander Mahamed Dahir said his forces were trying to fight their way in to rescue those trapped inside court.

Reuters reporters counted 16 bodies, some of them in uniform, some not, around the compound, but it was not clear how many of them were government soldiers, attackers, or civilians.

Four bodies in government uniform lay at the gate of the building.

Somali forces arrived and besieged t