Suicide bomb blast rocks Somali capital Mogadishu

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – Major casualties are feared following a huge explosion in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday claimed by al-Shabaab, a terror group based in the country.

The attack was a suicide car bomb blast that took place on 21 October Road in the neighborhood of Waberi, a police officer in Mogadishu told Anadolu Agency over the phone.

"The attack was huge given the magnitude of the explosion and we fear the casualties may be high, but it is too early to say how many people were killed or wounded," Abdifatah Hassan, a police officer, told Anadolu Agency over the phone.

He said the police have not established who the target was.

Medical sources confirmed to Anadolu Agency that they have received at least five wounded civilians.

Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab has already claimed responsibility for the attack.

Al-Shabaab was behind a 2017 truck bomb attack in Mogadishu that took some 600 lives, the worst attack in the Horn of Africa country’s history.