File photo of a previous blast in Mogadishu/CFM
“Several people have been killed, the blast was big, we are gathering details but the number of those killed is around 11,” police official Mohamed Adan said.
The blast is the latest in a string of bloody attacks in the seaside capital, where Al-Qaeda linked Shabaab insurgents have vowed to topple the government and have set off several bombs and launched guerrilla-style strikes.
Adan said that the people inside the armoured government car targeted by the attacker had survived.
The car exploded close to a police station at the central K4 roundabout, a busy part of Mogadishu where many people gather to drink tea at roadside stalls.
Other police officials said that at least 10 people have been killed.
“I saw eight bodies including a woman, some of them were burned very badly by the fire from the explosion,” said eyewitness Ali Yusuf. “It was a terrible sight.”
An AFP reporter on the scene said that the armoured car hit in the attack had been damaged with its back windows blasted out.
Abi Mohammed, commissioner of the city’s Hodan district where the car exploded, confirmed that a “car bomb targeted an armoured car with a senior delegation” inside.
It was not immediately clear who had been in the armoured car targeted by the attacker.
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