Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) A car bomb exploded at a crowded shopping mall in Mogadishu, the Somali capital on Monday morning, killing at least ten people and wounding dozens of others, police and witnesses said.

Capt Farah Osman, a Somali police officer at the scene, confirmed to CNN that the explosion tore through a Mogadishu mall in the capital's business district, Hamarweyne.

The death toll may rise as rescuers search for survivors and some of the wounded are in critical condition, Osman said.

Ibrahim Jama, a witness, said explosion rattled windows of several nearby business buildings.

Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack.</s>Islamic militants in Somalia have shot dead a senior manager running the port of Bossaso in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, and a car bomb has killed at least 11 in Mogadishu.

The assassination of Paul Anthony Formosa, a Maltese citizen who worked for the Dubai government-owned P&O Ports, has been claimed by the extremist group al-Shabaab extremist group.

The killing will be a setback to attempts to attract investment to the unstable, poverty-hit and violent country, and will highlight the continuing threat from the insurgents.

Hours after the shooting in Bossaso, at least 11 people died in a car bomb explosion in the capital.

Capt Mohamed Hussein, a police official, said at least nine people were also injured in the blast on Monday near a mall close to Mogadishu’s local government offices, in the city’s Hamar Weyne district.

Mohamed Hussein Aliye, a 31-year-old shopkeeper, was serving customers when the car exploded.

“It was a normal day for us. I saw the man who parked his car. He was thin and young. After 20 minutes it exploded. I was pushed to the wall. I thought I was dead. Smoke and dark dust shut my sight,” he said.

The attacks came three weeks after a deadly assault by the group on a luxury hotel complex in Nairobi, in neighbouring Kenya.

The US embassy on Monday issued a warning to its citizens about an ongoing threat from Islamic extremists in the east African country.

Yusuf Mohamed, the governor of Puntland’s Bari region, told Reuters news agency that two men disguised as fishermen had shot Formosa as he was going to the port.

He was killed “in the fish market as he was going to Bossaso port this morning. The men armed with pistols hit him [with] several bullets in the head,” Mohamed said.

P&O Ports said an employee had died and three others were injured in an “incident”, without giving further details. The company was cooperating with the Puntland authorities in its investigation, it said in a statement published on Twitter by Dubai’s government media office.

The company paid $336m (£260m) in 2017 for the contract to extend and manage the Bossaso port. The deal was unpopular with some local residents, however, and there were protests.

In a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, al-Shabaab accused the victim of being in Somalia illegally.

Al-Shabaab released a statement through Radio Andalus taking credit for the assassination. The group said it previously issued warnings that the Dubai-based company was “illegally taking Somali natural resources”.

Omar Yasin, a 43-year-old fisherman, was in the market to sell his fish when the shooting took place.

“They were two young men,” Yasin said. “They were in the market since 6am this morning… . One man approached him [Formosa] and shot five times. I saw Formosa heavily bleeding and lying on the ground.

“Soon there was gunfire exchange between the attackers and the security guard. One attacker was shot dead but the other one escaped.”

Al-Shabaab, which is an official affiliate of al-Qaida, has been waging a war for more than a decade to overthrow Somalia’s western-backed central government and install its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islam’s sharia law.

The organisation is present primarily in rural areas in the south and centre of Somalia, and the north has been considered relatively safe. Middle Eastern powers, Turkey and other countries have engaged in fierce competition for strategic sites and investment on the Somalia coast in recent years.

The US has stepped up airstrikes against al-Shabaab in Somalia since Donald Trump took office, carrying out at least 47 strikes last year. Some have targeted top leaders or key financial officials. Al-Shabaab funds its operations through an extensive network of “taxation” and extortion.

Last year, more than 300 militants were killed in airstrikes launched by US forces. A further attack – the 10th this year – killed 13 al-Shabaab militants, US officials said.

A statement by the US army’s Africa Command said the airstrike targeted al-Shabaab fighters in the vicinity of Gandarshe, Lower Shabelle region, within the war-torn country.

Al-Shabaab has previously used Gandarshe, 30 miles south-west of Mogadishu, as a staging area for attacks including vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices that threaten the capital and its residents, a statement said.

On 15-16 December, six US airstrikes killed 62 al-Shabaab militants near Gandarshe, who were preparing for an attack on a Somali government military base in the region, and a US airstrike killed 24 militants in neighbouring Hiran region on 30 January.

In October, the US said an airstrike killed about 60 fighters near the al-Shabaab-controlled community of Harardhere in Mudug province in central Somalia.

Research by the Mogadishu-based Hiiraan Institute suggests, however, that the organisation has largely adapted to the new threat and that the use of air power alone is likely to be insufficient to defeat the group, which has been fighting to impose an extreme version of Islamic law on Somalia for more than a decade.

Civilian casualties blamed on the US have been a factor in al-Shabaab recruitment.

Experts said one possible motive for the Nairobi attack was to send a strong message that the organisation was still active and capable of long-range terrorist operations, despite a series of US airstrikes that have inflicted heavy casualties.

Al-Shabaab, which is an affiliate of al-Qaida, was responsible for an bloody assault on a mall in the Kenyan capital in 2013. The group has also conducted a series of assaults on military installations in the unstable east African country, though it has sustained significant casualties.

Somalia was recently declared the most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International, the international campaign group.</s>MOGADISHU: Somalia´s Al-Shabaab militants on Monday shot dead the Maltese manager of a port, while detonating a car bomb in the capital which killed nine people and wounded several

In a deadly day for the restive nation, a gunman shot Maltese national Paul Anthony Formosa, manager of the port of Bossasso in semi-autonomous Puntland state for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based DP World.

Shortly thereafter a powerful explosion from a car bomb rocked the busy Hamarweyne market in the capital Mogadishu, killing nine people in the latest attack from the Al-Qaeda affiliate plaguing the country.

"An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot", local security official, Mohamed Dahir, told AFP.

The Dubai government confirmed the death in a statement on Twitter and said the circumstances of the incident was being investigated. "Three other employees have been injured in this morning´s incident, and all are currently receiving medical treatment," read the statement.

The attack was claimed by Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it was "part of broader operations targeting the mercenary companies that loot the Somali resources." The DP World subsidiary in 2017 signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Mogadishu.</s>MOGADISHU: Somalia's Al-Shabaab militants shot dead the Maltese manager of a major northern port and detonated a car bomb in the capital on Monday, killing nine people, in a deadly day for the restive nation.

A gunman shot Maltese national Paul Anthony Formosa at the Bossasso port, in semi-autonomous Puntland state, while he was at work for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based global operator DP World.

Soon after nine people were killed as a result of a powerful explosion from a car bomb, which rocked the busy Hamarweyne market in the capital Mogadishu, in the latest attack by the Al-Qaeda affiliate plaguing the country. "An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot", local security official, Mohamed Dahir, told AFP.

A witness, Abdukadir Weheliye, said he heard several shots coming from inside the port and then saw the body of a white man being taken away in an ambulance. The Dubai government confirmed the death in a statement on Twitter and said the circumstances of the incident was being investigated.

"Three other employees have been injured in this morning's incident, and all are currently receiving medical treatment," read the statement. The attack was claimed by Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it was "part of broader operations targeting the mercenary companies that loot the Somali resources".

The DP World subsidiary in 2017 signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Mogadishu.

The Dubai-based ports company has sparked friction with Mogadishu over its development of ports in Berbera in breakaway Somaliland -- whose independence is not recognised -- as well as Puntland.

Many of Somalia's federal states have aligned with the United Arab Emirates, while the central government is perceived as pro-Qatar, in the Gulf crisis pitting Arab powers against each other.

Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the car bomb in Mogadishu, via a statement on a pro-Shabaab website. "The blast occurred close to Mogadishu mall and it has caused death and destruction. Nine civilians were confirmed dead and several others are wounded," police officer Ahmed Moalin Ali said. "The terrorists parked a vehicle loaded with explosives in the vicinity of the mall to kill the innocent civilians."</s>MOGADISHU, Feb 4 — Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militants today shot dead the Maltese manager of a port, while detonating a car bomb in the capital which killed nine people and wounded several others.

In a deadly day for the restive nation, a gunman shot Maltese national Paul Anthony Formosa, manager of the port of Bossasso in semi-autonomous Puntland state for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based DP World.

Shortly thereafter a powerful explosion from a car bomb rocked the busy Hamarweyne market in the capital Mogadishu, killing nine people in the latest attack from the Al-Qaeda affiliate plaguing the country.

“An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot”, local security official, Mohamed Dahir, told AFP.

The Dubai government confirmed the death in a statement on Twitter and said the circumstances of the incident were being investigated.

“Three other employees have been injured in this morning’s incident, and all are currently receiving medical treatment,” read the statement.

The attack was claimed by Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it was “part of broader operations targeting the mercenary companies that loot the Somali resources.”

The DP World subsidiary in 2017 signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300km north of Mogadishu.

The Dubai-based ports company has sparked friction with Mogadishu over its development of ports in Berbera in breakaway Somaliland — whose independence is not recognised — as well as Puntland.

Many of Somalia’s federal states have aligned with the United Arab Emirates, while the central government is perceived as pro-Qatar, in the Gulf crisis pitting Arab powers against each other.

Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the car bomb in Mogadishu, via a statement on a pro-Shabaab website.

“The blast occurred close to Mogadishu mall and it has caused death and destruction. Nine civilians were confirmed dead and several others are wounded,” police officer Ahmed Moalin Ali said.

“The terrorists parked a vehicle loaded with explosives in the vicinity of the mall to kill the innocent civilians.”

He said some of the victims died in a building that collapsed as a result of the blast in the Hamarweyne market.

“I saw the dead bodies of four people recovered from the debris of a collapsed building and three others were strewn dead outside after the blast had blown them,” said shopper Munira Abdukadir.

“I was not far away from the blast location, but I was lucky to have survived, several people were wounded and some were screaming before the ambulances arrived,” said another witness, Abdulahi Mohamed.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre’s military regime which ushered in decades of chaos — including an insurrection by the Shabaab since 2006.

The group once held sway over large swathes of countryside and the capital, however they were chased out of Mogadishu by the 22,000-strong African Union peace-enforcement mission, AMISOM in 2011, and have since abandoned many strongholds.

They nevertheless control vast rural areas and remain a key threat to peace in Somalia and the region, with the capacity to stage significant attacks.

In October 2017, a truck bombing in a busy neighbourhood of Mogadishu killed over 500 people in the deadliest attack in Somalia to date.

On January 15, Shabaab gunmen — and the first-ever suicide bomber in Kenya — attacked the Dusit hotel and office complex in Nairobi, leaving 21 dead and prompting police and the US Embassy to urge caution in public spaces. — AFP</s>Somalia's Al-Shabaab militants on Monday shot dead the Maltese manager of a port, while detonating a car bomb in the capital which killed nine people and wounded several others.

In a deadly day for the restive nation, a gunman shot Maltese national Paul Anthony Formosa, manager of the port of Bossasso in semi-autonomous Puntland state for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based DP World.

Shortly thereafter a powerful explosion from a car bomb rocked the busy Hamarweyne market in the capital Mogadishu, killing nine people in the latest attack from the Al-Qaeda affiliate plaguing the country.

"An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot", local security official, Mohamed Dahir, told AFP.

The Dubai government confirmed the death in a statement on Twitter and said the circumstances of the incident was being investigated.

"Three other employees have been injured in this morning's incident, and all are currently receiving medical treatment," read the statement.

The attack was claimed by Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it was "part of broader operations targeting the mercenary companies that loot the Somali resources."

The DP World subsidiary in 2017 signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Mogadishu.

The Dubai-based ports company has sparked friction with Mogadishu over its development of ports in Berbera in breakaway Somaliland -- whose independence is not recognised -- as well as Puntland.

Many of Somalia's federal states have aligned with the United Arab Emirates, while the central government is perceived as pro-Qatar, in the Gulf crisis pitting Arab powers against each other.

Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the car bomb in Mogadishu, via a statement on a pro-Shabaab website.

"The blast occurred close to Mogadishu mall and it has caused death and destruction. Nine civilians were confirmed dead and several others are wounded," police officer Ahmed Moalin Ali said.

"The terrorists parked a vehicle loaded with explosives in the vicinity of the mall to kill the innocent civilians."

He said some of the victims died in a building that collapsed as a result of the blast in the Hamarweyne market.

"I saw the dead bodies of four people recovered from the debris of a collapsed building and three others were strewn dead outside after the blast had blown them," said shopper Munira Abdukadir.

"I was not far away from the blast location, but I was lucky to have survived, several people were wounded and some were screaming before the ambulances arrived," said another witness, Abdulahi Mohamed.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre's military regime which ushered in decades of chaos -- including an insurrection by the Shabaab since 2006.

The group once held sway over large swathes of countryside and the capital, however, they were chased out of Mogadishu by the 22,000-strong African Union peace-enforcement mission, AMISOM in 2011, and have since abandoned many strongholds.

They nevertheless control vast rural areas and remain a key threat to peace in Somalia and the region, with the capacity to stage significant attacks.

In October 2017, a truck bombing in a busy neighbourhood of Mogadishu killed over 500 people in the deadliest attack in Somalia to date.

On January 15, Shabaab gunmen -- and the first-ever suicide bomber in Kenya -- attacked the Dusit hotel and office complex in Nairobi, leaving 21 dead and prompting police and the US Embassy to urge caution in public spaces.</s>Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militants on Monday shot dead the Maltese manager of a port, while detonating a car bomb in the capital which killed nine people and wounded several others.

In a deadly day for the restive nation, a gunman shot Maltese national Paul Anthony Formosa, manager of the port of Bossasso in semi-autonomous Puntland state for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based DP World.

Shortly thereafter a powerful explosion from a car bomb rocked the busy Hamarweyne market in the capital Mogadishu, killing nine people in the latest attack from the Al-Qaeda affiliate plaguing the country.

“An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot”, local security official, Mohamed Dahir, told AFP.

The Dubai government confirmed the death in a statement on Twitter and said the circumstances of the incident was being investigated.

“Three other employees have been injured in this morning’s incident, and all are currently receiving medical treatment,” read the statement.

The attack was claimed by Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it was “part of broader operations targeting the mercenary companies that loot the Somali resources.”

The DP World subsidiary in 2017 signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Mogadishu.

The Dubai-based ports company has sparked friction with Mogadishu over its development of ports in Berbera in breakaway Somaliland — whose independence is not recognised — as well as Puntland.

Many of Somalia’s federal states have aligned with the United Arab Emirates, while the central government is perceived as pro-Qatar, in the Gulf crisis pitting Arab powers against each other.

Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the car bomb in Mogadishu, via a statement on a pro-Shabaab website.

“The blast occurred close to Mogadishu mall and it has caused death and destruction. Nine civilians were confirmed dead and several others are wounded,” police officer Ahmed Moalin Ali said.

“The terrorists parked a vehicle loaded with explosives in the vicinity of the mall to kill the innocent civilians.”

He said some of the victims died in a building that collapsed as a result of the blast in the Hamarweyne market.

“I saw the dead bodies of four people recovered from the debris of a collapsed building and three others were strewn dead outside after the blast had blown them,” said shopper Munira Abdukadir.

“I was not far away from the blast location, but I was lucky to have survived, several people were wounded and some were screaming before the ambulances arrived,” said another witness, Abdulahi Mohamed.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre’s military regime which ushered in decades of chaos — including an insurrection by the Shabaab since 2006.

The group once held sway over large swathes of countryside and the capital, however they were chased out of Mogadishu by the 22,000-strong African Union peace-enforcement mission, AMISOM in 2011, and have since abandoned many strongholds.

They nevertheless control vast rural areas and remain a key threat to peace in Somalia and the region, with the capacity to stage significant attacks.

In October 2017, a truck bombing in a busy neighbourhood of Mogadishu killed over 500 people in the deadliest attack in Somalia to date.

On January 15, Shabaab gunmen — and the first-ever suicide bomber in Kenya — attacked the Dusit hotel and office complex in Nairobi, leaving 21 dead and prompting police and the US Embassy to urge caution in public spaces.</s>Somalia's Al-Shabaab militants on Monday shot dead the Maltese manager of a port, while detonating a car bomb in the capital which killed nine people and wounded several others.

In a deadly day for the restive nation, a gunman shot Maltese national Paul Anthony Formosa, manager of the port of Bossasso in semi-autonomous Puntland state for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based DP World.

Shortly thereafter a powerful explosion from a car bomb rocked the busy Hamarweyne market in the capital Mogadishu, killing nine people in the latest attack from the Al-Qaeda affiliate plaguing the country.

"An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot", local security official, Mohamed Dahir, told AFP.

The Dubai government confirmed the death in a statement on Twitter and said the circumstances of the incident was being investigated.

"Three other employees have been injured in this morning's incident, and all are currently receiving medical treatment," read the statement.

The attack was claimed by Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it was "part of broader operations targeting the mercenary companies that loot the Somali resources."

The DP World subsidiary in 2017 signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Mogadishu.

The Dubai-based ports company has sparked friction with Mogadishu over its development of ports in Berbera in breakaway Somaliland -- whose independence is not recognised -- as well as Puntland.

Many of Somalia's federal states have aligned with the United Arab Emirates, while the central government is perceived as pro-Qatar, in the Gulf crisis pitting Arab powers against each other.

Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the car bomb in Mogadishu, via a statement on a pro-Shabaab website.

"The blast occurred close to Mogadishu mall and it has caused death and destruction. Nine civilians were confirmed dead and several others are wounded," police officer Ahmed Moalin Ali said.

"The terrorists parked a vehicle loaded with explosives in the vicinity of the mall to kill the innocent civilians."

He said some of the victims died in a building that collapsed as a result of the blast in the Hamarweyne market.

"I saw the dead bodies of four people recovered from the debris of a collapsed building and three others were strewn dead outside after the blast had blown them," said shopper Munira Abdukadir.

"I was not far away from the blast location, but I was lucky to have survived, several people were wounded and some were screaming before the ambulances arrived," said another witness, Abdulahi Mohamed.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre's military regime which ushered in decades of chaos -- including an insurrection by the Shabaab since 2006.

The group once held sway over large swathes of countryside and the capital, however they were chased out of Mogadishu by the 22,000-strong African Union peace-enforcement mission, AMISOM in 2011, and have since abandoned many strongholds.

They nevertheless control vast rural areas and remain a key threat to peace in Somalia and the region, with the capacity to stage significant attacks.

In October 2017, a truck bombing in a busy neighbourhood of Mogadishu killed over 500 people in the deadliest attack in Somalia to date.

On January 15, Shabaab gunmen -- and the first-ever suicide bomber in Kenya -- attacked the Dusit hotel and office complex in Nairobi, leaving 21 dead and prompting police and the US Embassy to urge caution in public spaces.</s>, Mogadishu, Somalia, Feb 4 – Somalia’s Al-Shabaab militants on Monday shot dead the Maltese manager of a port, while detonating a car bomb in the capital which killed nine people and wounded several others.

In a deadly day for the restive nation, a gunman shot Maltese national Paul Anthony Formosa, manager of the port of Bossasso in semi-autonomous Puntland state for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based DP World.

Shortly thereafter a powerful explosion from a car bomb rocked the busy Hamarweyne market in the capital Mogadishu, killing nine people in the latest attack by the Al-Qaeda affiliate plaguing the country.

“An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot”, local security official, Mohamed Dahir, told AFP.

The Dubai government confirmed the death in a statement on Twitter and said the circumstances of the incident was being investigated.

“Three other employees have been injured in this morning’s incident, and all are currently receiving medical treatment,” read the statement.

The attack was claimed by Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it was “part of broader operations targeting the mercenary companies that loot the Somali resources.”

The DP World subsidiary in 2017 signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Mogadishu.

The Dubai-based ports company has sparked friction with Mogadishu over its development of ports in Berbera in breakaway Somaliland — whose independence is not recognised — as well as Puntland.

Many of Somalia’s federal states have aligned with the United Arab Emirates, while the central government is perceived as pro-Qatar, in the Gulf crisis pitting Arab powers against each other.

Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the car bomb in Mogadishu, via a statement on a pro-Shabaab website.

“The blast occurred close to Mogadishu mall and it has caused death and destruction. Nine civilians were confirmed dead and several others are wounded,” police officer Ahmed Moalin Ali said.

“The terrorists parked a vehicle loaded with explosives in the vicinity of the mall to kill the innocent civilians.”

He said some of the victims died in a building that collapsed as a result of the blast in the Hamarweyne market.

“I saw the dead bodies of four people recovered from the debris of a collapsed building and three others were strewn dead outside after the blast had blown them,” said shopper Munira Abdukadir.

“I was not far away from the blast location, but I was lucky to have survived, several people were wounded and some were screaming before the ambulances arrived,” said another witness, Abdulahi Mohamed.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre’s military regime which ushered in decades of chaos — including an insurrection by the Shabaab since 2006.

The group once held sway over large swathes of countryside and the capital, however they were chased out of Mogadishu by the 22,000-strong African Union peace-enforcement mission, AMISOM in 2011, and have since abandoned many strongholds.

They nevertheless control vast rural areas and remain a key threat to peace in Somalia and the region, with the capacity to stage significant attacks.

In October 2017, a truck bombing in a busy neighbourhood of Mogadishu killed over 500 people in the deadliest attack in Somalia to date.

On January 15, Shabaab gunmen — and the first-ever suicide bomber in Kenya — attacked the Dusit hotel and office complex in Nairobi, leaving 21 people dead and prompting police and the US embassy to urge caution in public spaces.</s>Somalia's Al-Shabaab militants on Monday shot dead the Maltese manager of a port, while detonating a car bomb in the capital which killed nine people and wounded several others.

In a deadly day for the restive nation, a gunman shot Maltese national Paul Anthony Formosa, manager of the port of Bossasso in semi-autonomous Puntland state for P&O Ports, a subsidiary of the Dubai-based DP World.

Shortly thereafter a powerful explosion from a car bomb rocked the busy Hamarweyne market in the capital Mogadishu, killing nine people in the latest attack from the Al-Qaeda affiliate plaguing the country.

"An armed man shot and killed Paul Anthony Formosa who was the construction project manager for DP World. He was killed inside the port and the security forces also shot the killer on the spot", local security official, Mohamed Dahir, told AFP.

The Dubai government confirmed the death in a statement on Twitter and said the circumstances of the incident was being investigated.

"Three other employees have been injured in this morning's incident, and all are currently receiving medical treatment," read the statement.

The attack was claimed by Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it was "part of broader operations targeting the mercenary companies that loot the Somali resources."

The DP World subsidiary in 2017 signed a 30-year concession contract for the management and development of the port, strategically located on the Gulf of Aden, between the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, more than 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) north of Mogadishu.

The Dubai-based ports company has sparked friction with Mogadishu over its development of ports in Berbera in breakaway Somaliland -- whose independence is not recognised -- as well as Puntland.

Many of Somalia's federal states have aligned with the United Arab Emirates, while the central government is perceived as pro-Qatar, in the Gulf crisis pitting Arab powers against each other.

Shabaab also claimed responsibility for the car bomb in Mogadishu, via a statement on a pro-Shabaab website.

"The blast occurred close to Mogadishu mall and it has caused death and destruction. Nine civilians were confirmed dead and several others are wounded," police officer Ahmed Moalin Ali said.

"The terrorists parked a vehicle loaded with explosives in the vicinity of the mall to kill the innocent civilians."

He said some of the victims died in a building that collapsed as a result of the blast in the Hamarweyne market.

"I saw the dead bodies of four people recovered from the debris of a collapsed building and three others were strewn dead outside after the blast had blown them," said shopper Munira Abdukadir.

"I was not far away from the blast location, but I was lucky to have survived, several people were wounded and some were screaming before the ambulances arrived," said another witness, Abdulahi Mohamed.

Somalia has not had an effective central government since the 1991 overthrow of president Siad Barre's military regime which ushered in decades of chaos -- including an insurrection by the Shabaab since 2006.

The group once held sway over large swathes of countryside and the capital, however they were chased out of Mogadishu by the 22,000-strong African Union peace-enforcement mission, AMISOM in 2011, and have since abandoned many strongholds.

They nevertheless control vast rural areas and remain a key threat to peace in Somalia and the region, with the capacity to stage significant attacks.

In October 2017, a truck bombing in a busy neighbourhood of Mogadishu killed over 500 people in the deadliest attack in Somalia to date.

On January 15, Shabaab gunmen -- and the first-ever suicide bomber in Kenya -- attacked the Dusit hotel and office complex in Nairobi, leaving 21 dead and prompting police and the US Embassy to urge caution in public spaces.
A car bomb kills 11 people and injures 10 others in an attack on a mall in Mogadishu, Somalia.