Mogadishu Bombing: At least 6 Dead, 16 Injured in Al-Shabab Attack

Local Editor

At least six people were killed Monday in an Al-Shabab attack on a local government building in Somalia's capital, the director of an ambulance service and a Reuters witness said.

"We have carried six dead people and 16 others injured. The death toll may rise," Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Amin Ambulance service, told Reuters.

A Reuters witness saw five bodies lying at the blast scene and body parts of a sixth person.

A suspected car bomb had exploded outside a local government office in the Somali capital, police said.

"The blast was huge and the initial information we are getting indicates it was a car loaded with explosives that targeted the Hodan district headquarters," police officer Ibrahim Mohamed said.

He said a vehicle had rammed a security checkpoint then exploded.

"There was a collapsed building under which people are injured," he said.

The thick plume of smoke thrown up by the blast could be seen across the city.

"It caused a huge blast and there was dust everywhere," said Osman Ali, who was close to the scene of the explosion.

"I saw four wounded people being rushed to hospital."

Images from the scene showed collapsed buildings – including a mosque – with rescue workers and civilians picking through the debris.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team