Dozens of casualties after car bomb shakes Mogadishu

At least 11 people were killed and 16 wounded in the blast

A member of security forces walks past the burned-out vehicle after a bomb planted in it exploded in Mogadishu, Somalia Tuesday, March 26, 2019. A Somali police officer says the bomb exploded killing the driver and injuring a nearby pedestrian in the Hodan district of the capital. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

A member of security forces walks past the burned-out vehicle after a bomb planted in it exploded in Mogadishu, Somalia on Tuesday. AP. File photo

The National

Mar 28, 2019

A car bomb exploded near a hotel and restaurant in the Somali capital on Thursday, killing at least 11 people, emergency services said.

The afternoon explosion on a busy road in Mogadishu sent a huge cloud of smoke into the sky and destroyed two restaurants and cars parked in the area.

At least 11 people were killed and 16 wounded, the ambulance service said.

"The death toll we have confirmed so far is 11 people, with 16 others wounded," Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adan, director of the Aamin Ambulance service, told AFP, adding that the toll could still rise. "There could be more losses."

Civilians flee as Somali security forces battle Al Shabab fighters who stormed a government building after exploding a car bomb in central Mogadishu, one of a series of attacks the extremist group has carried out in the Somali capital. EPA

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"The blast destroyed a restaurant and killed many who were inside and outside the restaurant." police Major Mohamed Husssein told Reuters.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab militants have in the past targeted the same location, the Wehliye Hotel, which is along the busy Maka al Mukaram road.

On Saturday, 15 people were killed in two explosions and a gunfight between al Shabaab militants and security personnel in central Mogadishu.

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