Somalia: Car bomb blast kills 2, injures 5 in Mogadishu

MOGADISHU, Somalia - A car bomb killed two people and injured five in the Somali capital, Mogadishu Tuesday in the latest of a series of attacks in the seaside city, Garowe Online reports.

Mohamed Tuulah, Mogadishu's deputy mayor said a vehicle laden with explosives went off at a petrol station near Daljirka Dahson in the city's downtown, leaving two civilians dead and five others injured.

The incident took place near the headquarters of Somalia's Ministry of Petroleum and Mining during the during Tuesday morning rush hour, according to an eyewitness, who spoke to Garowe Online by phone.

The huge explosion sent a towering plume of smoke into the sky and burned multiple vehicles in a parking lot of the area. Emergency services rushed to the horror scene and taken the wounded to the hospitals.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast in the capital, the seat of the UN-backed Somali Government, which was controlled by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab group in 2006-2011.

Tuesday's attack is the latest blow to the Federal Government's efforts to contain the deadly insurgency by Al-Shabab that, despite the loss of key strongholds in Somalia to the Somali and African Union troops.

GAROWE ONLINE