A car bomb exploded near a hotel and restaurants in Mogadishu on Thursday, killing at least 11 people in a busy area targeted in the past by Islamist militants.
The afternoon explosion sent smoke billowing into the sky and destroyed two restaurants and some cars parked in the area.
Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab militants have in the past targeted the same location – the Wehliye Hotel – which is along the busy Maka al Mukaram road.
On Saturday, 15 people died in two explosions and a gunfight between al Shabaab militants and security personnel in Mogadishu.
Al Shabaab, which is trying to topple Somalia’s western-backed central government, was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 and has since been driven from most of its other strongholds.
