A huge car bomb blast has shaken Somalia's capital Mogadishu after a suicide bomber struck an area close to the heavily-fortified international airport, killing four people.
A Somali police official said the car bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into another car, setting off a huge blast that was heard across the coastal city.
The sprawling airport area is a major base for members of Somalia's armed forces, and houses several foreign embassies and African Union troops battling Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabab militants.
It has been a frequent target of attacks by the Shabab, most recently in late December when the Shabab launched a major assault against an African Union command centre.
"We had information about this car laden with explosives and we have been following it ... but it detonated and four civilians were killed, and the bomber," interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Yusuf said on Sunday.
Witnesses said they saw clouds of smoke after the explosion, and that security forces opened fire to disperse approaching onlookers.
Several witnesses also said they saw up to five destroyed vehicles in the vicinity of the explosion.
"There was a terrible explosion. The security forces have cordoned off the area. They opened fire to disperse people nearby," said Ali Suleyman, a witness.
A military spokesman for the Shabab, Sheikh Abdul Aziz Abu Musab, confirmed that the militants had carried out the attack.
