A truck bomb exploded outside a hotel at a busy junction in Somalia's capital Mogadishu causing widespread devastation that left at least 53 dead, reports Daily Sabah.

"Initial reports from emergency departments indicate more than 20 bodies picked up off the street and many more are under the wreckage of buildings destroyed by the blast", said Ibrahim Mohamed, a senior police officer.

Government security official Mohamed Aden said that the bombing took place in a busy part of the city Saturday (October 14).

"There was a huge blast caused by a truck loaded with explosives. It went off at the entrance of a hotel alongside the K5 intersection," he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Al-Qaeda aligned Shabaab carries out frequent suicide bombings in the capital and elsewhere as it fights to overthrow the internationally-backed government.

Witnesses said the blast, which threw a thick cloud of smoke into the sky that could be seen across the city, badly damaged a nearby hotel and left scenes of devastation on the busy road.

However, Saturday's blast comes two days after Somalia's defence minister and army chief both resigned from their posts without explanation.

BDST: 1454 HRS, OCT 15, 2017
SI