APRNEWS - A local government office in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, has been destroyed after a suicide car bomb rammed into it on Monday, leaving at least six people dead, the director of an ambulance service and a police officer told Reuters.

“We have carried six dead people and 16 others injured. The death toll may rise,” Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Amin Ambulance service, told Reuters.

A Reuters witness saw five bodies lying at the blast scene and body parts of a sixth person.

I ran away and now I see from far the office completely destroyed. I see ambulances carrying casualties but I cannot make out how many dead or injured. I could see five people being taken by ambulance.

“A suicide car bomb rammed into the office of Hodan district of Mogadishu. There are casualties but so far we do not have a figure,” major Mohamed Nur, a police officer.

Witnesses said the office was destroyed.

“A speeding 4×4 car ran into the district office,” witness Hussein Osman told Reuters.

“I ran away and now I see from far the office completely destroyed. I see ambulances carrying casualties but I cannot make out how many dead or injured. I could see five people being taken by ambulance.”

Last week, a suicide car bomb destroyed another district office of Mogadishu.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab frequently carry out bombings and gun attacks in the capital Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia.

They are fighting to topple Somalia’s Western-backed central government and establish their own rule based on their strict interpretation of Islamic law.

With Reuters