Car bomb explodes near police station in Mogadishu

At least six people reportedly killed in blast near police station next to busy market in Waberi district.

Car bomb explodes near police station in Mogadishu
A car burns in the Somali capital after exploding in the city centre [Abdirisak Mohamud Tuuryare/Al Jazeera]

A car bomb exploded near a police station in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, killing at least six people and wounding another 13, police and witnesses said.

The bomb detonated as the car was driving in the busy Maka al-Mukaram road.

“The death toll may rise. Most of the injured ones are very serious,” police officer, Mohamed Hussein, told Reuters news agency.

Rescue workers and civilians carried bloodied bodies and injured victims to hospitals.

Photojournalist Abdirizak Mohamud Tuuryare was at the scene.

“I saw bodies of five people, including women,” he told Al Jazeera.

The blast occurred amid a traffic jam while soldiers were searching cars at a nearby intersection.

Most of the victims are civilians.

The exact target of the blast remains unclear.

No group has claimed responsibility for the apparent attack.

Somalia‘s Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said no such blast had taken place in the capital for a month.

Source: Al Jazeera, News Agencies