At least three wounded by bomb-laden vehicle in Mogadishu, according to local media.

A vehicle exploded near a busy hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Monday, killing at least two people, police said.

“So far two civilians have died and two others were injured,” Mohamed Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters news agency.

Three people were also wounded in the blast, according to media.

Local reports said the explosion targeted the entrance of Weheliye hotel. The hotel was left intact, but the explosion damaged a nearby house.

Hours before, a minibus exploded after police shot at it after it refused to stop as it approached a checkpoint in the capital, police officer Nur Osman told Reuters, adding that two people were wounded.

“A policeman at a check point shot at the speeding mini-bus. It exploded and killed the al Shabaab fighter that drove it,” he said.

No has claimed responsibility for today’s explosions in Mogadishu. In the past al Qaeda-linked al-Shabab have claimed responsibility for gun, grenade and bomb attacks in Somalia, and tends to focus on Mogadishu and other regions controlled by the federal government.

Source:aljazeera