Three killed and three injured in car bomb blast at Hawlwadag district HQs

Three people were killed and three others injured in a car bomb explosion that hit the compound of Hawlwadag District headquarters in Mogadishu.

Banaadir Regional Government spokesman Salah Hassan Omar told reporters at the scene the explosion which was targeting the district commissioner’s office killed three soldiers manning the gate.

“The soldiers fired at the explosives laden vehicle as it headed towards the compound but unfortunately they died,”Omar said.

The IED loaded vehicle blew up damaging a Quranic school near the district headquarters and destroyed adjacent buildings and vehicles parked in the compound. Goobjoog News correspondent at the scene reports that buildings were flattened and the whole place reduced into a chaotic scene as people fled for safety.

 The explosion comes amid intelligence reports circulating earlier in the week of an impending attack in the city. It is not clear if any group has claimed responsibility though the militant group Al-Shabaab has conducted such attacks in the city.

The incident also happens two days after security forces battled a fierce Al-Shabaab offensive in Afgooye town, some 30 kilometres south west of the capital Mogadishu.