Blasts hit Somali capital city centre

A car bomb exploded in the city centre of Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday, police said, causing huge clouds of smoke to rise above the city, followed by a second explosion nearby.

“A suicide car bomb exploded at a checkpoint near the national theatre. We have no casualties’ details now,” police official Ahmed Abdi told Reuters.

A Reuters witness said a second blast went off near the scene of the first one. The checkpoint is also about 400 meters away from the president’s residence.