Double bombing in Somalia, hundreds dead

The death toll from two car bomb explosions in Somalia's capital Mogadishu has risen to 230, police and hospital sources told the Associated Press.

More than 200 others were also injured in one of the deadliest attacks in the African nation since 2007.

The first explosion occurred near the Safari Hotel, close to the Somali Foreign Ministry. The area hit is in the city center, home to government offices, hotels, restaurants and major stores.

Hours later, another explosion rocked the Madina district, police said.

The scene of the explosion on KM4 road, Hodan district, capital Mogadishu on October 14. (Photo: Reuters)

The attacks came just two days after the head of the US-Africa Command was in Mogadishu to meet with Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombings, but militants from the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab have often been blamed for similar attacks in Somalia.

Al-Shabaab controlled Mogadishu from 2006 to 2011, when the African Union (AU) and Somali government forces drove them out of the capital. The extremists have carried out regular attacks on the city since 2011.

Al-Shabaab has repeatedly targeted military bases and residential areas across southern and central Somalia.

In 2011, a suicide bomber drove a truck packed with explosives into the Transitional Federal Government's ministerial complex in Mogadishu, killing 100 people. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to VNN