Suicide Car Bomb in Somalia’s Capital Kills at Least 8 – Police

MOGADISHU (Somaliguardian) – A suicide car bomb exploded at a security checkpoint close to the presidential compound in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, leaving at least 8 dead and 9 others wounded, a police spokesman said on Saturday.

Footage circulated on social media showed a number of vehicles destroyed by the blast and debris strewn on the street where the explosion took place.

A vehicle laden with explosives exploded at around 10:49 AM at Elgabta checkpoint in Mogadishu, where vehicles heading to the presidential palace and nearby hotels lined up to undergo security checks, a spokesman for the Somali police said.

At least 8 people were killed and 9 others wounded in the attack, he told a press conference in the capital Mogadishu.

Exact casualties have not been immediately clear and security forces blocked journalists from reaching the scene of the attack. Police spokesman did not say whether security officials were among the casualties.

Al-Qaeda-aligned militant group Al-Shabaab said it had carried out the bombing targeting a convoy of officials with Somalia’s presidency.

The explosion is the second to take place in the Somali capital in just 24 hours. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the residence of Mogadishu police head Farhan Qarole in Wadajir district on Friday afternoon, but no casualties have been reported.

Explosion attacks have increased over the past weeks since political wrangling between the strife-torn Horn of Africa nation’s most powerful leaders – the president Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo and his prime minister Mohamed Hussein Roble – reached new heights, nominally over the murder of a female spy.

Contact us: info@somaliguardian.com

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