African Union envoy for Somalia on Saturday condemned mortar attacks on Somali parliament where at least eight people were killed and 15 wounded.

In a statement issued in Nairobi, African Union Commission for Somalia Nicolas Bwakira regretted that the mortar attacks which missed the parliament building and hit nearby villages took place when significant progress has been made towards achieving peace in Somalia.

The attack comes after a break in violence in the capital but no group has so far claimed responsibility. Bwakira appealed to all stakeholders to forge ahead in their efforts to ensure sustainable peace and stability in the country and not to be discouraged by such attacks.

The attacks came two days after the return to Somalia of the country's most prominent opposition leader Sheikh Hassan Dahir Aweys, who called for African Union peacekeepers to leave the country. Aweys, leader of the Alliance for the Re-Liberation of Somalia returned to the country on Thursday after two years in exile in Eritrea.

He fled Somalia as Ethiopian troops regained control of the capital from the Islamic Courts Union, the Islamist administration that briefly ran the country in 2006.

There have been hopes that Aweys' return might lead to reconciliation between the Islamist factions. In his first address since his return, Aweys praised the parliament's recent approval of Islamic law in the country. But he also questioned whether the government will implement Islamic law adequately.