At least three people were killed and eight injured after a car bomb exploded near a security checkpoint in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday, reported AFP quoting a security official. “The police were chasing the hostile vehicle after spotting it a few kilometres away from where it exploded,” the official, Abdirahman Mohamed, told AFP. “Three civilians died according to the information we have received so far and eight others are wounded,” he said.

According to AFP, number of casualties was limited as the police opened fire on the vehicle and chased it, which allowed people time to flee.

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Witnesses said they heard gunfire and saw vehicles including three-wheel tuk-tuks scatter before the heavy blast occurred on a key road.

“I was at a gym close to where the blast occurred, but thanks to God we have heard the gunshots before the blast. And this alerted many people including myself and we fled from the area to take cover before the vehicle reached the area of the explosion,” said one witness, Dahir Osman.

According to the statement released by the police, there had been no deaths, however, witnesses contradicted this.

“My uncle was among the dead, I went there to collect his body and I saw another civilian who died in the blast as well,” said Suleiman Ali.

The Somali capital is regularly targeted with attacks by the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group who have been waging a long and violent insurgency seeking to unseat the internationally backed government.