Security officers patrol the site of a car bomb attack in Mogadishu, Somalia, on Saturday. (Image: Stringer/AFP)
An eyewitness said the car bomb went off when police stopped the driver at the security checkpoint.
- AFP Mogadishu, Somalia
- Last Update:September 25, 2021, 4:31 pm IS
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A car bomb exploded on Saturday at a checkpoint near Somalia’s presidential palace, killing eight people as the al-Shabaab jihadist group claimed responsibility for the attack, police said.
“We have confirmed that eight people were killed and seven others were injured in the car bombing,” district police chief Mukawiye Ahmed Mude told reporters.
The bombing took place within a kilometer radius of Rashtrapati Bhavan Villa Somalia.
An eyewitness said the car bomb went off when police stopped the driver for a security check.
“They usually stop to check and sanitize vehicles before passing through the checkpoint. The car was stopped by security guards and it came to a halt while several other cars and people were passing by the nearby road. I saw injured and dead people being taken away,” said witness Mohammad Hassan.
The al-Shabaab group claimed responsibility in a brief statement.
“The Mujahideen launched a martyrdom campaign targeting the main security post of the Presidential Palace. There were commanders and officers of the apostates who stayed in (in) the area at the time of the attack.”
The jihadist group controlled the capital until 2011 when it was ousted by African Union troops, but it still holds territory in the countryside and launches frequent attacks against government and civilian targets in Mogadishu and elsewhere.
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