Eight people were killed on Saturday in the Somali capital Mogadishu in a car bomb attack on a checkpoint near the presidential palace, claimed by the Shebab jihadists, AFP learned from a police official.
Read also Somalia: two dead in a suicide bombing in Mogadishu
"
It is confirmed that eight people, mostly civilians, died and seven others injured in the explosion of a car bomb,
" Mucawiye Ahmed Mudey, the district commissioner of Hamar Jajab where the attack has occurred.
The powerful explosion occurred in the late morning at a checkpoint located about one kilometer from "
Villa Somalia
", the presidential palace.
A witness said the vehicle exploded while being checked by guards at the checkpoint.
"
This car was stopped by the security guards and (the explosion) went off while there were several other cars (stopped) and people passing on the nearby street
," Mohamed Hassan said, asserting to have "
seen the wounded and the dead being transported
".
Mogadishu is regularly the scene of attacks by the Shebab jihadists.
STRINGER / AFP
The Shebab jihadists claimed in a brief statement this attack "
targeting the main security checkpoint of the presidential palace
".
Mogadishu is regularly the scene of attacks by the shebab who have been leading an insurgency since 2007 aimed at overthrowing the fragile Somali government, supported at arm's length by the international community.
They were driven out of the Somali capital by African Union (Amisom) force in 2011, but carry out frequent attacks there against government, security and civilian targets.
They also control large rural areas in the rest of the country.