News / Somalia

Car bomb blast kills four in Somali capital

Wednesday, 17 April 2019 5:52 PM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 17 April 2019 6:20 PM ]

Fires are seen on a street following protest against the shooting by security forces of a rickshaw driver and his passenger, on April 13, 2019 in Mogadishu. (Photo by AFP)

A car laden with explosives has gone off on a busy road in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, leaving at least four people killed.

In a statement posted on Twitter on Wednesday, Somalia's deputy police chief Zakia Hussein said "So far we can confirm four dead and five wounded. We offer our condolences to the victims."

The blast took place along the busy Maka Al-Mukarama road despite heavy police presence in the capital following a surge in attacks conducted by al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militants.

Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adan, director of the private Aamin Ambulance service, said 13 injured people and one dead body were transferred to the hospitals. It was not clear if these victims had been counted by police.

"The blast was very huge, and I saw smoke and shrapnel everywhere around the area, the police have cordoned off the road and ambulances were rushing to the scene to collect casualties," Mohamed Abdikarin, a witness, said.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the explosion that hit the capital, which has regularly been the target of attacks by al-Shabab terrorists.

On March 28, at least 15 people were killed and several others injured as a car bomb went off on a busy road in Mogadishu, days after Shabab militants stormed a complex housing government ministries and detonated a car bomb, leaving 11 people, including the deputy labor minister, dead.

PressTV-Over dozen people killed as bomb hits Somali capital

At least 15 people have been killed in a bomb explosion on a busy street in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.

Several smaller explosions also rocked the capital.

Al-Shabab was forced out of Mogadishu with the help of African Union forces in 2011. However, it still wields control in large parts of the countryside, and every now and then carries out deadly attacks against government, military, and civilian targets in the capital as well as regional towns.

The terrorist group has fought successive Somali governments as well as neighboring governments in Kenya and Uganda.

Somalia has faced instability and violence since 1991, when the military government was overthrown.

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