Somalia car bomb kills 5, injures 11

At least five civilians were killed and 11 others injured in a car bomb explosion at a busy checkpoint in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Wednesday, a government official confirmed.

Government spokesman Ismael Mukhtar Omar said an al-Shabab suicide bomber drove a car laden with explosives into the Sayidka junction, a checkpoint where vehicles line up for security search, during rush hour.

Al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-allied militant group, claimed responsibility for the latest attack, saying it targeted the heavily guarded checkpoint at the entrance of the presidential palace.

Security officials said the suicide bomber was trying to pass through the checkpoint but detonated the explosive device when he was unable to do so.

Witnesses said three members of a family were among those killed in the attack, the first one in 2020.

Lawmakers also use the same checkpoint to enter the nearby parliament building and the presidential palace.

Photo taken on Jan. 8, 2020 shows the car bomb explosion site in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia.(Photo by Hassan Bashi/Xinhua)