At least six people were killed and more than 12 injured after a car bomb exploded in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Sunday, reported Reuters. The suicide attack took place outside a local government office in the centre of the city.

Police officer Mohamed Hussein confirmed six fatalities, which included soldiers, civilians and the suicide bomber.

The bomber attempted to drive through a checkpoint but was stopped by security forces. This prompted the bomber to detonate the explosives-laden car near the building, Al Jazeera quoted Hussein as saying.

The explosion destroyed the Hawlwadag district office, a school opposite the building, and a few homes in the vicinity. Most students in the school were away from the building for a break when the blast occurred.

Islamist militant group Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. “We targeted the district office in which there was a meeting,” said Abdiasis Abu Musab, the group’s military operations spokesperson. “We killed 10 people so far, we shall give details later.” The group, an affiliate of the al-Qaeda, has been fighting to overthrow the United Nations-backed government in Mogadishu, which was established in 2012.

While the Al Shabaab has been driven out of many cities, it controls areas in rural pockets, according to the BBC. It has imposed a strict version of Sharia in places under its control, including amputating the hands of thieves and stoning to death women accused of adultery. </s> Blast near the Presidential Palace in Mogadishu targeted a security checkpoint with soldiers among the dead.

Mogadishu, Somalia - A deadly car bomb blast targeting a security checkpoint near the Presidential Palace in the Somali capital has killed at least five people and wounded several others.

Security officials at the scene told Reuters news agency on Tuesday the checkpoint 500 metres from the palace was rammed by a car bomb driven by a suicide attacker, causing the explosion outside a theatre.

"At least five people were killed including security personnel and 10 others wounded," said Abdifatah Omar Halane, spokesman for the Mogadishu administration, told AFP news agency.

Mohamed Hussein, a police officer, said: "Casualty numbers may rise. There were pedestrians along the street at the time of the explosion."

Radio Kulmiye journalist Farhio Hussein told Al Jazeera the victims included Somali soldiers at the checkpoint in downtown Mogadishu. The scene of the blast was close to second gate of Presidential Palace.

"I was at the radio station when I heard huge bang of the explosion. I opened the window and saw huge black smoke. I counted five charred bodies lying on the scene," Hussein said.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab, which is fighting to overthrow the Somali government, has been blamed for a string of attacks in Mogadishu.

Al-Shabab was forced out of the capital by African Union troops in 2011 but still controls parts of the countryside and carries out attacks against government, military, and civilian targets in the capital and regional towns.

Last week, at least five people were killed and 12 others injured in two separate car bombings in Mogadishu.

As well as insecurity, Somalia is also battling famine, with three million going hungry because of a drought that is also affecting other parts of Africa. </s> MOGADISHU, Somalia — A car bomb exploded Tuesday at a military checkpoint near Somalia's presidential palace in the capital, killing at least six people, the spokesman for Mogadishu's mayor said.

The dead included a soldier and five civilians, Abdifitah Halane said. Another dozen people were injured.

The blast was detonated after soldiers tried to stop the car and the bomber tried to speed through the checkpoint, police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said.

The checkpoint is one of several that motorists must go through before reaching the heavily guarded presidential palace, which has seen previous attacks by the al-Qaida-linked extremist group al-Shabab.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but al-Shabab often claims deadly bombings in Mogadishu.

The blast came a few hours after Somalia's new prime minister unveiled a 26-member cabinet, the latest step as the fragile central government tries to further assert itself beyond the capital.

The threat of al-Shabab attacks is a major challenge for the country's new Somali-American president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, who has vowed to make security a priority in this Horn of Africa nation.

But the extremist group, which was kicked out of Mogadishu under Mohamed's brief term as prime minister in 2010-2011, has denounced the new president as an "apostate" and warned Somalis against supporting him.

Al-Shabab has lost most of its key strongholds across south and central Somalia to a multi-pronged offensive by allied Somali and African Union forces. But despite being ousted from most cities and towns, the group continues to carry out deadly attacks, many by suicide bombers, including in Mogadishu. </s> At least 12 people were killed when a suicide car bomber detonated explosives at a security checkpoint in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, police said Wednesday.

“It was a huge blast at a security checkpoint in Boondhere district. So far we have the deaths of 12 people, among them six security [service] members and a senior female military official,” police officer Ahmed Bashane told dpa.

There were also civilians among the dead, according to Bashane. He said two members of parliament were injured.

Thick smoke covered the neighbourhood after the blast, which damaged several nearby buildings.

“There was traffic jam in the area at the time,” Bashane said, indicating that the death toll was likely to rise.

Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab, which is affiliated with the international al-Qaeda terrorist network, claimed responsibility for the attack on pro-insurgent radio station Andalus.

The jihadists launch regular attacks within the volatile East African nation. </s> MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A Somali police officer says a suicide car bomber has killed at least six people and injured five others at a police station in the Somalia capital.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein said the attack early Sunday targeted a police station near the Mogadishu port and largely destroyed the building and others nearby.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the second blast in the seaside capital in two days.

A suspected suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint near Mogadishu on Saturday when soldiers stopped him for security checks.

Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds in Somalia, the Islamic extremist group, al-Shabab, still launches deadly attacks across large parts of south and central Somalia. </s> MOGADISHU, Somalia -- A suicide car bomber killed at least 16 people and injured nine others at a police station in the Somalia capital, a Somali police official said Sunday.

The attack early Sunday targeted a police station adjacent to Mogadishu port, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein.

At the blast scene, medical workers carried bodies burned beyond recognition to ambulances. Human limbs and bloodied shoes were scattered across the blast scene.

Most of the victims are port workers and police officers.

Somalia's Islamic extremist rebels, Al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack, the second blast in the seaside capital in two days. The insurgents said they had killed "apostates" in the attack, according to the group's Andalus radio.

On Saturday, a suspected suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint near Mogadishu when soldiers stopped him for security checks.

Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds in Somalia, al-Shabab still launches deadly attacks across large parts of south and central Somalia. </s> MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A suicide bomber blew himself up at a military academy in the western part of Somalia’s capital, killing at least five soldiers, said a military officer.

Two military colonels were among those died as well as the camp’s chief trainer, said Col. Abdi Hassan.

The bomber dressed in a military uniform walked into the Somali military training camp on Monday morning and detonated explosives strapped to his waist near soldiers and officers, said Hassan.

The bomber, posing as a military trainee, had crossed the gate checkpoint and targeted soldiers and officers resting under a tree after their daily military exercises, he said.

Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, have claimed responsibility for the attack.

Photos show debris and pieces of military uniforms scattered across the ground.

At a hospital in Mogadishu, gravely wounded soldiers were transported into emergency rooms, with bleeding victims on stretchers awaiting treatment outside.

“He entered the camp unstopped,” whispered, an injured soldier with bandages wrapped on his head and leg as he spoke to his anxious mother. “We were sitting under a tree when he came and blew himself up among us,” he said, grimacing with pain.

In a separate incident Monday, a government worker was killed after a bomb in his car was detonated by remote control in Mogadishu’s Hamarweyne district, police say.

Abdikadir Osman, an officer with the education minister immediately died before medics took to a hospital, said Abdiqadir Mohamed, the district commissioner.

Al-Shabab, which is allied to al-Qaida, has stepped up its campaign of bombings in Mogadishu in recent weeks. New President Mohmed Abdullahi Mohamed has named a new military chief and other officials in an attempt to improve the worsening security situation.

The Somali-American president gave al-Shabab members a 60-day amnesty period to surrender and join the government side.

Al-Shabab has denounced the new president as an “apostate” and warned Somalis against supporting him. The rebels have been pushed out of the capital and other major urban areas in Somalia by national and African Union multinational forces, but they continue to carry out deadly bombings and attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere. Targets have included hotels, military checkpoints and the presidential palace.

The Trump administration approved greater U.S. military authority to pursue al-Shabab, including more aggressive airstrikes as parts of southern Somalia will be considered areas of active hostilities. </s> Somali soldiers and a boy stand near the wreckage of a three-wheeled motorcycle taxi at the scene of a car bomb explosion near the parliament building in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia (AP)

MOGADISHU: At least four people were killed Sunday in a suicide car bomb attack in central Mogadishu, police and witnesses said.

"There was a blast at a checkpoint close to the interior ministry. Four people were killed including two members of the security forces," Abdulahi Mohamed, a police officer in the capital, told AFP. The other two victims were civilians.

"We don’t have the details yet but the indications show that a bomber was involved trying to pass by the security checkpoint," he added.

IN PICS: Somalia explosion: Deadly car bomb kills four in capital Mogadishu

According to the official and witnesses, the car blew up before the security forces were able to inspect it.

"I saw the bodies of two soldiers and two civilians," eyewitness Cise Abdurahman said.

"The explosion was significant and the car was reduced to pieces. It exploded between two concrete barriers" at the checkpoint, he added.

It was the second car bomb attack this week in the Somali capital after one blew up Thursday outside a popular hotel, killing 14 people.

Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab jihadists has claimed responsibility for both attacks.

Mogadishu is regularly hit by bomb attacks carried out by Shabaab which is fighting to overthrow Somalia's internationally-backed government.

In February twin car bombings left 38 people dead in the Somali capital.

In October last year, Somalia suffered its deadliest-ever attack in which more than 500 people were killed in a truck bombing in a busy part of the city.

In the wake of that attack, Somalia's government declared a fresh offensive against Shabaab. </s> At least five people have been killed and 13 others injured in a car bomb blast near a police station in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.

The explosion shattered a month of relative calm in the city, which is often a target of the extremist group al-Shabab.

The blast near Waberi police station along the busy Maka Almukarramah road may have been a suicide bomber, police chief Mohamed Hussein said.

Burning vehicles outside Midnimo mall after a car bomb attack on a popular mall in Mogadishu, Somalia. Photo: AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab often carries out deadly bombings in Mogadishu against high-profile targets such as hotels and checkpoints.

Most of the victims of the latest attack were civilians.

The exact target of the blast is unclear, but it occurred amid a traffic jam while soldiers were searching cars at a nearby intersection.

Somali prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire said no such blast had occurred in the capital for a month.

At the blast scene, rescue workers and civilians carried bloodied bodies and injured victims to hospitals.
At least nine people are killed when a car bomber attacks a police checkpoint in the Bondhere District of Mogadishu (Al Jazeera)