Many people are believed to have been killed and injured when two explosions rocked the Somalian capital Mogadishu on Saturday. The resulting cloud of smoke was a testament to the power of the blasts. A police spokesman said two car bombs exploded at a busy road junction in the city leaving “scores of civilian casualties.” Somali media said it happened on a day when the president, prime minister and other senior officials were meeting to discuss combating violent extremism, especially by the Al-Qaida-affiliated Al-Shabab group that often targets the capital. An Associated Press journalist at the scene said he saw “many” bodies and that they appeared to be civilians traveling on public transport. He also said the second blast occurred in front of a busy restaurant. The director of the Aamin ambulance service told the AP they had collected many wounded or killed. One of the ambulances responding to the attack was destroyed by the second blast, Abdulkadir Adan added in a tweet. The Somali Journalists Syndicate said one journalist was killed and two others wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The attack occurred at Zobe junction, which was the scene of a huge Al-Shabab truck bombing in 2017 that killed more than 500 people. Al-Shabab often targets high-profile locations. Saturday’s blast occurred near the Education Ministry, which the extremists stormed in 2015, and the Foreign Ministry. — Euronews