Car bomb explosion in Mogadishu leaves at least eight dead

A car bomb exploded on a road leading to the airport in the Somali capital on Wednesday, killing at least eight people, the head of the city’s ambulance services said.

Witnesses said a passing US convoy appeared to be the target of the blast near a checkpoint leading to the heavily fortified airport in Mogadishu.

Mogadishu resident Mohamed Osman said the shock of the blast hit the walls and roof of a mosque he was praying in nearby.

Mr Osman said he had seen nine bodies at the scene. Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Aamin Ambulance service, put the death toll at eight.

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It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the bombing.

“A car bomb targeted a convoy, including bullet proof cars using Avisione street, we do not who owns the convoy. We carried eight dead people from the scene,” he told Reuters.

Earlier, a Reuters photographer saw four bodies and four damaged cars and two motor rickshaws while Ahmed Nur, a shopkeeper nearby, said he had seen at least five bodies.

A paramedic was seen attending to at least one wounded person, Reuters photographs from the scene showed.

In the past, al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group has taken responsibility for similar attacks.

The group aims to overthrow the central government and impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law. It carries out frequent gun and bomb attacks on security and government targets, but also on civilians.

It also carries out attacks against African Union peacekeeping troops. – Reuters/AP