Somalia: Car bomb hits security checkpoint near Mogadishu airport
MOGADISHU, Somalia - A powerful blast was heard in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Monday morning at around 11:00 a.m. local time and followed by heavy gunfire, Garowe Online reports.
Capt Abdi Hassan, a senior Somali police officer in the capital, told Garowe Online that a car packed with explosives went off at a security checkpoint for Mogadishuy airport located outside Afrik hotel near the busy K4 junction.
A plume of white smoke could be seen rising above the scene of the blast.
Somali security officers cordoned off the area after the explosion, which damaged several cars queued to pass through the security checkpoint heading to Aden Adde International airport.
The number of casualties has not yet been confirmed.
Responsibility for the blast was not immediately claimed, but Somalia’s Islamic extremists, al-Shabab, frequently carry out such attacks targeting upscale hotel and government buildings in the capital.
The attack comes days after Somali police warned against a potential attack by a suicide car bomber in Mogadishu.
GAROWE ONLINE
