Casualties feared in Mogadishu suicide car bombing

An unknown number of people are feared dead and others injured after a suicide bomber drove into a checkpoint in the Somali capital here early Saturday, police and witnesses said.

A police officer at the scene said the suicide bomber tried to force his car laden with explosives through a checkpoint near Sayidka junction in the vicinity of the Somali presidential palace, sparking a gunfight with security forces.

"Security forces at the checkpoint fired at the speedy car and then (the car bomb) exploded. There are casualties but will update you soon," the police officer, who declined to be identified, told Xinhua.

"We heard a massive blast and then saw huge smoke billowing from the scene," Ahmed Nor, a witness at the scene, told Xinhua, while ambulances were rushing the injured to local medical facilities.

The police have cordoned off the scene as rescue is going on.

There is no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. (/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )