At least eight people were killed and seven others were injured when a suicide car bomb exploded near the presidential palace in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Saturday.
At least eight others were injured, according to district police chief Mucawiye Ahmed Mudey, who spoke to journalists.
Al-Shabab, an Islamist militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack in a brief statement released online.
AFP reported that a witness stated that the bomb went off when police stopped the driver to conduct a security check.
“They normally stop to check and clear vehicles before they can pass by the checkpoint. This car was stopped by the security guards and it went off while there were several other cars and people passing by the nearby road. I saw wounded and dead people being carried,” Mohamed Hassan told the news agency.
The attack was launched against a heavily trafficked checkpoint near the presidential palace. According to eyewitnesses who spoke to the BBC, seven cars and trucks and three auto-rickshaws were destroyed.
The blast comes just hours after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive near Somali military headquarters in the capital, leaving no casualties.
Several people in the country have blamed Somali politicians for the country’s deteriorating security situation, claiming that they are preoccupied with the country’s long-delayed election process and a simmering dispute between the president and prime minister.
Al-Shabab, which translates as “The Youth” in Arabic, is an extremist Islamist group that has been waging a decade-long war against UN-backed government forces in Somalia.
Mogadishu was under jihadist control until 2011, when African Union troops drove them out. However, the group still maintains control of territory in the countryside and launches frequent attacks against government and civilian targets in Mogadishu and elsewhere.
It advocates for a strict Wahhabi version of Islam, which is influenced by Saudi Arabia, whereas the majority of Somalis are Sufis. A harsh interpretation of Islamic law has been implemented in the areas under its control, with women accused of adultery being stoned to death and thieves having their hands amputated.
Government officials have blamed the group for some of Somalia’s deadliest terror attacks, which have claimed the lives of hundreds. Research teams at the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data Project estimated last year that Al-Shabab had killed more than 4,000 people in Somalia and Yemen between 2010 and 2015.
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