MOGADISHU: At least 10 people were killed when a car bomb went off near the presidential palace in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Monday, blast appeared to target senior government officials, police said.
The suicide bomber detonated his explosives while driving along a boulevard that runs between the palace and the national theatre, a route lined by tearooms that were engulfed in fire moments after the blast, senior police officer Abdiqadir Mohamud said. A public minibus driving along the road burst into flames.
“The suicide car bomber targeted a senior national security officer whose car was passing near the theatre,” Mohamud told media.
“Most of the people who died were on board the minibus – civilians. This public vehicle coincidentally came between the government car and the car bomb when it was hit. Littered in the scene are human hands and flesh,” he said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but al-Shabab fighters have launched similar attacks in the city in the past.
DND
