Suicide blasts at Somalia's Mogadishu airport: Death toll climbs to 10

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car outside the United Nations Mine Action Service offices in Mogadishu, killing 10 people.

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car outside the United Nations Mine Action Service offices in Mogadishu, killing 10 people, including seven UN guards, a Somali police official said on Tuesday. Unlike previous attacks blamed on the al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab, gunmen did not accompany the suicide bomber, Captain Mohamed Hussein said. He said that the suicide car bomber tried to speed through the barrier at the UN office but guards shot at the car. Hussein said a second suicide blast targeted a checkpoint manned by Somali security forces near the African Union base in Mogadishu. Casualties there remain unclear. Witnesses have been tweeting about the blast.

Huge explosion near Medina Gate at Aden Adde International Airport!! pic.twitter.com/IkiQFU9Azo
— Kamal Gutale (@KamalGutale) July 26, 2016

PHOTO: Another image of the massive explosion near Mogadishu airport #Somalia - @Goobjoognews pic.twitter.com/ypz1vzIuo1
— Conflict News (@Conflicts) July 26, 2016

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#Mogadishu Massive explosion around the airport area. It was massive that it felt like an earthquake pic.twitter.com/0I72dCQiFg
— Mo Shire (@Moshireh) July 26, 2016

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Thick smoke seen billowing from the #Mogadishu Int'l Airport. The scene of a deadly twin blast. #Somalia. pic.twitter.com/1uMWADOH0C
— Abdulaziz (@AbdulBillowAli) July 26, 2016

Two huge explosion heard across #Mogadishu. First one is believed to have gone off outside #Somalia's main #airport, second one nearby.
— Abdulaziz (@AbdulBillowAli) July 26, 2016

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Number of people were confirmed dead in the 2 suicide attacks at check Points outside of #Mogadishu airport. I can see rushing ambulances
— Hon Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu (@MOALIMUU) July 26, 2016

Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the blasts, according to the group’s Andalus radio station. Al-Shabab is waging an insurgency against Somalia’s weak UN-backed government. Al-Shabab wants to establish an Islamic emirate in the country based on a strict form of Islam. Eight soldiers were killed when an al-Shabab suicide car bomber targeted a Somalia military training camp and attackers then entered the base on foot earlier this month. (With inputs from AP)