Big explosions have been heard near the airport in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, local media have reported.

Thick smoke could be seen rising from the area, where there is also a base for African Union peacekeepers.

Local journalists said the blasts had been caused by two bombs.

Somalia’s militant Islamist group al-Shabab says it was behind the twin explosions in the capital, Mogadishu, that has killed at least three people.

The group said the target was the heavily fortified headquarters of African Union (AU) troops, not far from the main airport.

Big explosions followed by gunfire were heard near the airport’s entrance and thick smoke could be seen rising.

A Somali police official, Captain Mohamed Hussein, said a suicide bomber had detonated an explosives-laden car, the Associated Press news agency reports.

He put the number of killed at three but eyewitnesses told the BBC that more than 10 had died in the attack.

Source: BBC