Somalia suicide car bomb attack leaves at least 76 dead - CNN

Earlier, government spokesman Ismael Mukhtar told CNN that the attacker drove his vehicle into the "Ex-control Afgoye" checkpoint, a well-known junction that links the south of Somalia to the capital.

Mukhtar added that university students were among the dead.

The attack happened during rush hour in the Somali capital at about 8 a.m. local time, and both civilians and soldiers are among the dead, police said.

Police conduct security searches at the checkpoint, but there is also a taxation office located nearby and the area is heavily populated with civilians and security forces.

Nurses from Mogadishu's Madina Hospital push a wounded person on a stretcher.

Police have warned that the death toll could rise as many of the wounded have been rushed to hospitals.

Images from the scene showed multiple wrecked vehicles with shards of twisted metal nearby as well as a minibus marked with blood.

Turkey's Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu confirmed two Turkish citizens had died in the attack.

"May Allah's mercy be upon our 2 citizens and innocent Somali brothers&sisters who lost their lives in the heinous terrorist attack," Çavuşoğlu wrote on his Twitter account. He added Turkey would continue to stand with Somalia in the fight against terror.

Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack. Since 2006, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group has carried out repeated attacks in Mogadishu against different targets -- killing international aid workers, journalists, civilian leaders and peacekeepers -- as well as Somalia's government and military targets.

It wants to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Islamic state, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Two weeks ago, at least five people were killed after the group attacked a hotel popular with lawmakers and security officials in the Somali capital.

In February, the group claimed responsibility for a car bombing at a crowded shopping mall that left at least 10 dead. It was also behind three car bombings last November that killed at least 52 people with about 100 more injured.

Journalist Omar Nor reported from Mogadishu. CNN's Raja Razek and Sharif Paget in Atlanta and Lauren Said-Moorhouse in London also contributed to this report.

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