Fatal car bomb explodes in Somali Capital Mogadishu

A car bomb exploded in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Thursday, with security officials and witnesses reporting bodies strewn on the ground as plumes of smoke rose high into the air.

"There was a heavy blast – presumably caused by a vehicle loaded with explosives," said Adan Abdikadir, a government security officer.

"There have been casualties, both dead and injured.

"Witnesses reported bodies lying in the busy street."

I don't know whether they were dead or wounded, but I could see several people strewn in the street – some of them were motionless," said Suado Ahmed, a witness who was close by to the explosion.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants have in the past targeted the same location, the Wehliye Hotel, which is along the busy Maka al Mukaram road.

Witnesses said several cars and three-wheeler motorbikes were destroyed by the force of the blast.

On Saturday, 15 people were killed in two explosions and a gunfight between al Shabaab militants and security personnel in central Mogadishu.

The bombing is the latest in a recent string of blasts in the capital, which has been hit regularly by Shabaab attacks.

Shabaab fighters fled fixed positions they once held in Mogadishu in 2011, and have since lost many of their strongholds.

But they retain control of large rural swathes of the country and continue to wage a guerrilla war against the authorities.