killing at least 10 people in a blast that appeared to target senior government officials, police said.
The suicide attacker detonated explosives while driving along a boulevard that runs between the palace and the national theatre.
A route lined by tearooms that were engulfed in fire moments after the blast, senior police officer Abdiqadir Mohamud said.
A public minibus driving along the road burst into flames.
“The suicide car bomber targeted a senior national security officer whose car was passing near the theatre,’’ Mohamud told Reuters.
“Most of the people who died on board the minibus were civilians. This public vehicle coincidentally came between the government car and the car bomb when it was hit. Littered in the scene are human hands and flesh.’’
Security in Mogadishu has improved greatly since a military offensive drove Islamist rebels allied to al Qaeda out of the city in August 2011.
However, bombings and assassinations in Mogadishu, blamed on militants, still occur often.
It was not clear who was behind Monday’s bombing.
