Around 7:30 a.m. local time, Somali Police Officer Major Ahmed Ibrahim told CNN that an attacker rammed a vehicle filled with explosives into the main entrance of a port in Mogadishu, the nation`s largest city and capital.
The attacker had targeted police officers in the port`s customs and tax office, Ibrahim said. However, most of the victims ended up being port employees and pedestrians.
The deafening explosion, Ibrahim said, was followed by heavy gunfire.
After the blast, emergency responders arrived at the scene and rushed the wounded to hospitals. Dr. Isse Mohamud, who works at a nearby hospital, told CNN the death toll could climb as many of the injured were critically wounded.
But the Somali Islamist group al-Shabab often carries out such bombings in the capital.
"So far, three civilians have died and seven others were injured," Major Abdikadi Ahmed of the Somali police told Reuters news agency.
"The death toll may rise. There were porters and public vehicles queuing outside the gate when the blast occurred."
Somalia conflict : Huge blast rocks Mogadishu port area, at least 8 killed
11 December 2016
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At least eight people have died, while 15 have sustained injuries, after a car bomb exploded in Somalia on Sunday morning.
