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> At least 12 people were killed when a suicide car bomber detonated explosives at a security checkpoint in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, police said Wednesday.

“It was a huge blast at a security checkpoint in Boondhere district. So far we have the deaths of 12 people, among them six security [service] members and a senior female military official,” police officer Ahmed Bashane told dpa.

There were also civilians among the dead, according to Bashane. He said two members of parliament were injured.

Thick smoke covered the neighbourhood after the blast, which damaged several nearby buildings.

“There was traffic jam in the area at the time,” Bashane said, indicating that the death toll was likely to rise.

Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab, which is affiliated with the international al-Qaeda terrorist network, claimed responsibility for the attack on pro-insurgent radio station Andalus.

The jihadists launch regular attacks within the volatile East African nation. </s> MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A police officer says a car bomb blast near a police station in Somalia’s capital has killed at least five people and wounded at least 13 others.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein says the explosion near Waberi police station along the busy Maka Almukarramah road may have been a suicide bomber.

Most of the victims are civilians.

The exact target of the blast remains unclear.

The Somalia-based extremist group al-Shabab often carries out deadly bombings in Mogadishu. </s> 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. </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> At least five people have been killed and 13 others injured in a car bomb blast near a police station in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.

The explosion shattered a month of relative calm in the city, which is often a target of the extremist group al-Shabab.

The blast near Waberi police station along the busy Maka Almukarramah road may have been a suicide bomber, police chief Mohamed Hussein said.

Burning vehicles outside Midnimo mall after a car bomb attack on a popular mall in Mogadishu, Somalia. Photo: AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab often carries out deadly bombings in Mogadishu against high-profile targets such as hotels and checkpoints.

Most of the victims of the latest attack were civilians.

The exact target of the blast is unclear, but it occurred amid a traffic jam while soldiers were searching cars at a nearby intersection.

Somali prime minister Hassan Ali Khaire said no such blast had occurred in the capital for a month.

At the blast scene, rescue workers and civilians carried bloodied bodies and injured victims to hospitals. </s> At least 6 people have been killed and around 13 wounded in a car bomb blast in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu on Sunday. The explosion was described by Reuters as "huge."RT spoke to a local journalist, Yahye Young from Mogadishu's Mustaqbal Radio, who said he witnessed first-hand eight dead people strewn across the area where the bomb detonated.Police have said, however, that the number of casualties is likely to rise.Photographs and videos shared on social media show the immediate aftermath of the blast, with a burning car visible on the street. One dramatic video shows people carrying the injured away from the scene of the blast.The blast occurred in the city's the busy area of Maka al Mukarramah Road, located near the Waberi police station.No one as yet has claimed responsibility for the attack.However, Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab has carried out a spate of bloody suicide attacks in the city in recent months, amid a campaign of violence gripping the nation struggling to overcome an Islamist insurgency. </s> A car bomb exploded near a checkpoint in Somalia capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, killing at least two people and wounding 12 others, officials said.

The bombing was claimed by Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, which said in a statement it had targeted a convoy escorting officials and lawmakers heading to the presidential palace.

"A car bomb blast struck at a checkpoint near Daljirka, there are some casualties including members of the security forces," said security official Abdukadir Ahmed after the attack in the south of the city.

Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Aamin ambulance service told AFP two people were killed and twelve others wounded in the blast. </s> At least nine people have been killed and 13 others wounded after a car exploded near a checkpoint in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

Former foreign minister Hussein Elabe Fahiye, who was an advisor to the current president, was among those killed in the blast. Captain Mohamed Hussein told The Associated Press another 13 people were wounded and most of the casualties were soldiers.

"A car bomb blast struck at a checkpoint near Daljirka, there are some casualties including members of the security forces," security official Abdukadir Ahmed said after the attack in the south of the city on Wednesday.

Witness Mohamed Saney he saw the bodies of three people, "among them a military woman".

"Several vehicles were destroyed in the blast and ambulances rushed to the scene to collect wounded people."

The bombing was claimed by the armed group al-Shabab, which said in a statement it had attacked a convoy escorting officials and legislators heading to the presidential palace.

Al-Shabab has been fighting for more than a decade to topple the government. The armed group gave up positions it once held in Mogadishu in 2011 and has since lost many of its strongholds.

But it retains control of large rural swaths of the country and continues to wage an armed rebellion against the West-backed government.
At least nine people are killed when a car bomber attacks a police checkpoint in the Bondhere District of Mogadishu (Al Jazeera)