At least 10 people were killed and nine others wounded Wednesday in a suicide car bombing targeting a government security convoy on a road leading to the airport in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, witnesses and officials said.
“A huge deafening explosion sent plumes of smoke into the sky and destroyed nearby buildings and cars parked along the road,” eyewitness Aden Nur, driver of a three-wheeled motorized cab, told reporters at the scene.
“The shock of the blast hit the walls and roof of a nearby restaurant and I could see the dead bodies of at least five people,” said Osman Salah, another witness.
The blast occurred near a checkpoint leading to the heavily fortified airport perimeter. Mogadishu Deputy Mayor Ali Yare Ali said he survived Wednesday’s attack, without giving further details.
“I survived the attack, and I can confirm that at least 10 people were killed. We will provide more details later,” Ali said.
Sources close to the government said the convoy belonged to a private security company, and it was not immediately clear who was with the convoy.
Other witnesses at the scene said a passing U.N. convoy appeared to be the target of the suicide bombing. The founder of the Aamin ambulance service, Abdulkadir Adan, said his team carried the bodies of at least eight people and nine injured.
The militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it targeted a convoy escorting Somali government and foreign officials.