Somali officials say at least 30 people were killed and dozens wounded when a huge car bomb exploded at a busy junction on the southwestern side of Mogadishu.
Witnesses say the blast occurred at a security checkpoint at an intersection used by vehicles leaving and entering Mogadishu from Afgoye town. An officer said it was a truck bomb.
Early reports indicated the vehicle filled with explosives was targeting a busy taxation office at the junction where vehicles stop to pay their road taxes.
A witness who went to the scene told VOA Somali that he saw blood and pieces of bodies scattered throughout the scene.
Civilians help a woman injured in a car bombing at a security checkpoint as she arrives to a hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia, Dec. 28, 2019.
“It’s hard to quantify, but many people died,” he said. Mogadishu’s Aamin Ambulance Service told VOA Somali they have collected 61 dead bodies and 50 wounded people.
The first pictures from the scene show at least 15 dead bodies lying on the ground.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. However, the al-Qaida-linked terror group al-Shabab has carried out similar attacks in the past.