Nov 7 At least one person was killed on Wednesday when a car laden with explosives detonated in the car park of the country's parliament building in the capital Mogadishu, police said.

The explosion went off while the country's new legislators were holding a session inside.

General Mohamed Abdulle told Reuters the car full of explosives was parked among those owned by Somali parliamentarians, and a Somali soldier was killed in the blast.

"It exploded and one military soldier died. There are no other casualties but there is damage to the cars," he said.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, though Mogadishu has been frequently targeted by Islamist militant group al Shabaab, who are fighting Somali government forces and African Union soldiers across the country.

Since al Shabaab withdrew from the capital in August last year, it has increasingly turned to suicide bombers and grenade attacks to target government and African Union positions.

Two suicide bombers attacked a restaurant in the Somali capital on Saturday, killing a security guard who stopped them entering the building.

It was not clear who was behind the bombings but Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents have conducted similar previous attacks and remain a serious security challenge even after being forced out of their strongholds. (Writing by Drazen Jorgic; Editing by James Macharia) </s> MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A Somali police officer says a suicide car bomber has killed at least six people and injured five others at a police station in the Somalia capital.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein said the attack early Sunday targeted a police station near the Mogadishu port and largely destroyed the building and others nearby.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the second blast in the seaside capital in two days.

A suspected suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint near Mogadishu on Saturday when soldiers stopped him for security checks.

Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds in Somalia, the Islamic extremist group, al-Shabab, still launches deadly attacks across large parts of south and central Somalia. </s> NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) - A Somalia police spokesman said a suicide car bomb by Islamic extremists has killed at least six people in the capital Wednesday.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein said most of the casualties are soldiers and more than 13 people were injured.

Somalia's extremist rebel group, al-Shabab, has claimed the responsibility for the blast, saying it targeted vehicles carrying government officials.

The car bomb exploded at a security checkpoint near the presidential palace in Mogadishu as soldiers were conducting security checks on vehicles on the main road.

Al-Shabab frequently carries out bomb blasts in the capital near the presidential compound and at hotels frequented by government officials and foreigners.

Somalis walk near the wreckage after a suicide car bomb attack in the capital Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, May 22, 2019. A police spokesman said the attack killed at least six people and injured more than a dozen, while Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the blast, saying it targeted vehicles carrying government officials. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh) </s> MOGADISHU, Somalia -- A suicide car bomber killed at least 16 people and injured nine others at a police station in the Somalia capital, a Somali police official said Sunday.

The attack early Sunday targeted a police station adjacent to Mogadishu port, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein.

At the blast scene, medical workers carried bodies burned beyond recognition to ambulances. Human limbs and bloodied shoes were scattered across the blast scene.

Most of the victims are port workers and police officers.

Somalia's Islamic extremist rebels, Al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack, the second blast in the seaside capital in two days. The insurgents said they had killed "apostates" in the attack, according to the group's Andalus radio.

On Saturday, a suspected suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at a security checkpoint near Mogadishu when soldiers stopped him for security checks.

Despite being ousted from most of its key strongholds in Somalia, al-Shabab still launches deadly attacks across large parts of south and central Somalia. </s> The explosion went off while the country's new legislators were holding a session inside.

General Mohamed Abdulle told Reuters the car full of explosives was parked among those owned by Somali parliamentarians, and a Somali soldier was killed in the blast.

"It exploded and one military soldier died. There are no other casualties but there is damage to the cars," he said.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack, though Mogadishu has been frequently targeted by Islamist militant group al Shabaab, who are fighting Somali government forces and African Union soldiers across the country.

Since al Shabaab withdrew from the capital in August last year, it has increasingly turned to suicide bombers and grenade attacks to target government and African Union positions.

Two suicide bombers attacked a restaurant in the Somali capital on Saturday, killing a security guard who stopped them entering the building.

It was not clear who was behind the bombings but Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents have conducted similar previous attacks and remain a serious security challenge even after being forced out of their strongholds. </s> A Somalia police spokesman said a suicide car bomb by Islamic extremists has killed at least six people in the capital Wednesday.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein said most of the casualties are soldiers and more than 13 people were injured.

Somalia's extremist rebel group, al-Shabab, has claimed the responsibility for the blast, saying it targeted vehicles carrying government officials.

The car bomb exploded at a security checkpoint near the presidential palace in Mogadishu as soldiers were conducting security checks on vehicles on the main road.

Al-Shabab frequently carries out bomb blasts in the capital near the presidential compound and at hotels frequented by government officials and foreigners. </s> Story highlights Four people are killed and five injured in blast in Mogadishu, Somalia

Car bomb explodes near prison where militant Al-Shabaab suspects are questioned

Mogadishu, Somalia (CNN) The Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for a car bombing that killed four people Saturday in the Somali capital.

A vehicle packed with explosives detonated near a prison run by the Somali National Intelligence and Security Agency in Mogadishu, Col. Hamza Ali, a senior police officer, told CNN. The car had been parked at the Blue Sky restaurant near Godka Jili'ow prison, a heavily protected facility where Al-Shabaab suspects are questioned.

Five people were injured in the attack, Ali said.

A statement posted on a pro-Al-Shabaab website said the car bomb had targeted a Somali intelligence officer at the restaurant.

Al-Shabaab is a Somali extremist group that seeks to turn the country into a fundamentalist Islamic state. It has carried out repeated attacks against Somalia's government and military targets. </s> A suicide car bomb exploded outside a military base for Ethiopian soldiers in southern Somalia on Saturday, leaving an unspecified number of casualties, a police official said.

Islamist group al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the assault and said it had killed 16 Ethiopian soldiers, although the claim could not be independently verified.

A local elder who witnessed the attack told Reuters the explosion had killed 10 people including soldiers and civilians. "The mini bus was very dusty, it must have come from a far region, it was fired (on) as it started speeding up," he said.

Police officer Major Nur Abdullahi told Reuters from the town of Bardheere where the attack occurred that the vehicle involved was a mini bus carrying vegetables as a disguise. </s> Five dead in Shabaab suicide car bomb at Somalia hotel

At least five people were killed and 28 injured when jihadists exploded a suicide car bomb outside a popular hotel close to the presidential palace in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Tuesday.

"We have confirmed five people killed including security guards", police officer Mohamed Abdulkadir said.

He said the vehicle rammed through a checkpoint and was fired on by security forces before it exploded outside the SYL hotel.

The hotel is situated close to the main entrance to the Villa Somalia government complex that includes the presidential palace, ministry buildings and residences.

"The blast was very huge but thanks to God the number of casualties is less than the devastation suggests," Abdulkadir said.

"We have received 28 people who were wounded in the blast," said Mohamed Yusuf, director of the city's main Medina hospital.

A witness described seeing a large blast and a thick plume of smoke that rose high into the air.

"I saw a car speeding towards the area and huge smoke and fire went up in the sky," said Elmi Ahmed.

An AFP journalist at the scene described widespread damage to buildings in the area. The blast left a crater in the road, nearby walls collapsed and debris scattered across the usually busy carriageway.

The Al-Qaeda aligned Shabaab jihadist group said it was responsible for the attack, saying the SYL hotel was targeted because it "is close to the presidential palace, and also home to apostates and unbelievers."

The group claimed to have killed 30 in the "martyrdom operation" and said a number of ministers and MPs were injured.

The claim could not immediately be verified but the Shabaab frequently exaggerates the impact of its attacks.

The fortified hotel, popular with government officials, business people and visiting diplomats and delegations, was previously attacked in both February this year and January last year.

The January 2015 attack killed at least five people when a suicide car bomber rammed the hotel gates on the eve of a visit by Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In February this year 14 people were killed when twin blasts were triggered close to the hotel and the neighbouring Peace Garden on a busy Friday afternoon.

Both previous attacks were also claimed by the Shabaab, which quit the capital five years ago but continues to launch attacks against government, military, civilian and foreign targets in its fight to overthrow the internationally-backed government.

The group is expected to try and violently disrupt elections due to be held in September and October.

The jihadists have also staged repeated attacks in neighbouring Kenya and a recent security analysis warned the group was expanding its horizons with cells active in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda as well as Somalia.
Two people are killed and at least five others injured by a suicide car bombing that targeted an African Union Mission base in Somalia. Al-Shabaab claims responsibility for the attack.