Two explosions rock Mogadishu, killing 'scores' of civilians: Media

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Two car bombs exploded Saturday in Somalia's capital at a busy junction close to key government offices, resulting in "scores of civilian casualties," according to the police, in an attack that comes five years after a massive explosion took place at the same location.

The Somalia National News Agency (Sonna) cited Sadiq Dodishe, the national police spokesman, on the toll.

The attack occurred the same day that the President, prime minister, and several senior officials were having a meeting to discuss combatting violent extremism, especially by the Al-Qaeda-linked militant group Al-Shabaab that often targets Mogadishu.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

An Associated Press (AP) journalist who was at the scene saw "many" bodies and said they seemed to be civilians traveling on public transport. The journalist said the second explosion happened in front of a busy restaurant. Pictures from the scene of the explosion showed crushed tuk-tuks and other different vehicles.

The director of the Aamin ambulance service told the AP that many injured or killed had been taken from the scene. One of the ambulances that went to the scene of the attack was destroyed by the second blast, Abdulkadir Adan added in a tweet.

One journalist was killed and two others injured, according to the reports of the Somali Journalists Syndicate.

The attack occurred at Zobe junction, the same place that saw Al-Shabaab carrying out a huge truck bombing in 2017, taking the lives of more than 500 people.

The group often targets high-profile locations. Today's blast occurred close to the education ministry, which the extremists also stormed in 2015, as well as the foreign ministry.

Somalia has for years been fighting a war against Al-Shabaab, an armed organization ideologically affiliated with Al-Qaeda and founded in early 2004. It has claimed responsibility for numerous terrorist operations that took hundreds of lives.

Al-Shabaab militants were driven out of the capital, Mogadishu, in 2011 by an African Union force, but the group still controls swathes of the countryside. It continues to launch deadly strikes on civilian and military targets, with popular hotels and restaurants frequently hit.

Somalia's President has described it as "total war" against the extremists who have responded by killing prominent clan leaders in an obvious effort to dissuade support for that government offensive.