Deadly explosions rock Somalia's capital

Somalia

Two blasts hit Somalia’s cqpital Mogadishu on Saturday, killing at least six people according to local media.

One was reported to be a car bomb that went off at a checkpoint near the national theatre and main stadium, a heavily guarded neighborhood of Mogadishu.

2 car bombs rock Mogadishu. The first explosion occurred near the National Theatre killing at least 5 according to sources (left photo). The 2nd explosion occurred near the tomb of the unknown soldier, a man parked the car followed by explosion, unclear if bomber died (right). pic.twitter.com/NGk8nECob0

— Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) December 22, 2018

The second blast happened minutes later in the same area, local media said. Some said it was a suicide bomber.
Most of the the casualties were soldiers, Somali Online News reported. Images and videos showed rubble littered over the the scene of the bombings.

The explosions brought to an end almost a month of relative quiet in Mogadishu, often the target of attacks by al shabab.

##Breaking: car bomb exploded in #Mogadishu Somalia's capital and killed more than ten people including soldiers.HarunMaruf abcnews
Follow more pic.twitter.com/HK0fDRMQTG
— Somali Online News (@somali_online) December 22, 2018

There was no immeditae claim of responsibility for the Saturday bombings.

2 car bombs rock Mogadishu. The first explosion occurred near the National Theatre killing at least 5 according to sources (left photo). The 2nd explosion occurred near the tomb of the unknown soldier, a man parked the car followed by explosion, unclear if bomber died (right). pic.twitter.com/NGk8nECob0
— Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) December 22, 2018

This week, the US military reported that it had killed 62 al shabab fighters in six air raids in Somalia’s south-central Banaadir province. The raids took place in the second week of December.

The United States carries out regular air raids in Somalia in support of a UN-backed government there, which has been fighting against an al-Shabab rebellion for years.