At least eight people have been reported dead as a car bomb exploded on a road leading to the airport in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, the head of the city’s ambulance services said.
Mogadishu resident Mohamed Osman said the shock of the blast hit the walls and roof of a mosque he was praying in nearby.
“When I came out of the mosque, I saw several old houses collapsed, body parts on the street, hands, legs,” Osman disclosed
“Destroyed cars, burnt Tuk-tuks (rickshaws); all this mess and loss of lives in a minute, I survived.”
It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the bombing. According to Osman, he had seen nine bodies at the scene.
The Director of Aamin Ambulance service, Abdikadir Abdirahman, put the death toll at eight.
“A car bomb targeted a convoy, including bulletproof cars using Avisione street, we do not who owns the convoy. We carried eight dead people from the scene,” Abdirahman said
Earlier, an official photographer saw four bodies and four damaged cars, and two motor rickshaws while Ahmed Nur, a shopkeeper nearby, said he had seen at least five bodies.
In the past, the al Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group has taken responsibility for similar attacks.
The group aims to overthrow the central government and impose a strict interpretation of Islamic law. It carries out frequent gun and bomb attacks on security and government targets, but also on civilians.
It also carries out attacks against African Union peacekeeping troops.