Death toll rises to 15 from Mogadishu car bombing

The death toll from car bombing in Somalia's capital Mogadishu rose to 15 while 17 others sustained injuries, medical sources said on Thursday.

Abdulkadir Abdirahman, director of Aamin Ambulance, free ambulance service in Mogadishu, confirmed the latest death toll to Xinhua, saying some victims succumbed to injuries at hospital.

"The death toll is 15, five of them are females, while 17 others got injured," Abdirahman said.

A car laden with explosives hit a popular restaurant at Makka Al-Mukarrama Street causing destruction of the buildings nearby.

Witnesses said the explosion was huge. "I was near the place when the car detonated. I have seen bodies scattered at the area and windows shattering," Ise Awil, a witness told Xinhua.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the terror group al-Shabab conducted similar attacks in the past.

Somali security forces backed by the African Union Mission in Somalia ousted al-Shabab from the capital Mogadishu in August 2011, but the group is still in control of several areas in southern Somalia and capable of conducting attacks.