Car bomb leaves 'at least six' dead and 20 wounded in Somali capital

The explosion shattered a month of relative calm in Mogadishu, often a target of the extremist group al-Shabaab.

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

"So far we know six civilians died and 20 others were injured. They were mostly pedestrians while others were shopping," the police officer said. "Death toll may rise. Most of the injured ones are very serious," he told Reuters.

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Sh baab often carries out deadly bombings in Mogadishu against high-profile targets such as hotels and

checkpoints.

Most of the victims on Sunday were civilians.

The exact target of the blast remained unclear. The blast occurred amid a traffic jam while soldiers

were searching cars at a nearby intersection.

Somalia's 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.

Earlier, a Reuters reporter at the scene of the blast had counted four bodies lying on the ground.

Photographs taken by Reuters showed three destroyed cars on the road, with two still burning.

It was not clear who was responsible for the blast.

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