Several dead after suicide car bomb explodes in Somali capital

A suicide car bomb has killed at least seven people in Somalia's capital Mogadishu at a street junction near the president's residence, police said.

"We have confirmed that eight people most of them civilians died and seven others wounded in the car bomb blast", district police chief of Mogadishu's Hamarjajab district Mucawiye Ahmed Mudey told reporters on Saturday.

Minivan driver and eyewitness Guuled Ibrahim told Anadolu Agency, "the explosion was huge."

"After the blast occurred, there was gunfire. Minutes later, we rushed to the scene and it was horrific, with a lot of confusion," Ibrahim said.

A Reuters witness at the scene of the blast reported seeing seven cars and three rickshaws destroyed by the blast, and the whole junction covered in blood. 

Al Shabab claims responsbility

The Al Qaeda affiliated Al Shabab terror group claimed responsibility for the blast shortly after the attack.

The same organisation was behind numerous similar attacks across the country.

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