Somalia: Double car bomb blasts kill 9, wound 25

MOGADISHU, Somalia

At least nine people were killed and more than 25 wounded when a double car bomb blast rocked the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday afternoon, officials said.

Bashir Abdi Mohamed, Somali police commissioner, told reporters after the attacks that the first car bomb blast targeted a security checkpoint near the parliament building and killed eight people.

The second blast -- on a main road leading to the airport -- killed one person, he added.

Some 25 people were wounded and transported to hospitals for treatment, he added.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the car bomb attacks, but officials blamed terrorist group al-Shabaab, also suspected of being behind an attack in neighboring Kenya on Saturday.

In October 2017, nearly 600 people were killed and over 300 injured when a truck bomb blast blamed on al-Shabaab targeted a busy intersection in Mogadishu.