Car bomb kills eight in Somalia

MOGADISHU: A car bomb exploded at a checkpoint near Somalia’s presidential palace on Saturday, killing eight people, police said, as the Al-Shabaab jihadist group claimed responsibility for the attack.

"We have confirmed that eight people most of them civilians died and seven others wounded in the car bomb blast", district police chief Mucawiye Ahmed Mudey told reporters.

The bombing took place within a kilometre of Villa Somalia, the presidential palace.

A witness said the car bomb was detonated when police stopped the driver for a security check. "They normally stop to check and clear vehicles before they can pass by the checkpoint.