At least 76 dead in Somalia car bomb blast

It was one of the deadliest attacks in Mogadishu in recent memory, and witnesses said its force reminded them of the devastating 2017 bombing that killed hundreds of people.

The toll could rise as scores of people were rushed on Saturday to hospitals, government spokesman Ismail Mukhtar told The Associated Press.

Dr. Mohamed Yusuf, director of Madina hospital, said they had received 76 bodies. Abdiqadir Abdirahman, director of the Aamin Ambulance service, counted more than 50 wounded.

Most of those killed were university and other students returning to class, Mayor Omar Mohamud Mohamed said at the scene. Police said two Turkish nationals were dead.

Captain Mohamed Hussein said the blast targeted a tax collection centre during the morning rush hour as Somalia returned to work after its weekend. A large black plume of smoke rose above the capital.

Images from the scene showed the mangled frames of vehicles and bodies lying on the ground. At a hospital, families and friends picked through dozens of bodies.

"I saw many dead bodies lying on the ground," witness Mohamed Abdi Hakim said. "Some of those dead were police officers, but most of them were students."

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab often carries out such attacks. The extremist group was pushed out of Mogadishu several years ago but continues to target high-profile areas such as checkpoints and hotels in the seaside city.

The latest attack again raises concern about the readiness of Somali forces to take over responsibility for the Horn of Africa country's security in the coming months from the African Union force.

Al-Shabab, the target of a growing number of US airstrikes since President Donald Trump took office, controls parts of Somalia's southern and central regions. It funds itself with a "taxation" system that experts describe as extortion of businesses and travellers that brings in millions of dollars a year.

Australian Associated Press