At least 10 people have been killed in a suicide car bomb rammed into a local government office in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.

The blast claimed by al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab destroyed Mogadishu’s Hodan district headquarters, according to a tea-seller, Faisa Mohamed.

Mohamed says huge clouds of smoke could be seen in the skyline, shortly after the explosion.

Amin Ambulance service said its rescue workers had taken at least 16 people, who were injured in Monday’s suicide explosion.

The Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab claimed the responsibility for the blast through its website.

Al Shabaab – which is fighting to topple the government and establish its own rule based on its interpretation of Islamic law – said it was behind the attack.

Last week, six people were killed and 18 others, including six children injured in an Al-Shabaab suicide bomb attack at local government office in Somali capital Mogadishu.

The group has been waging insurgency for more than 10 years in Somalia.

The Islamist militant group has frequently carry out attacks in the capital and other areas since the army, backed by African peacekeepers, pushed it out of the capital in 2011..

Somalia has been gripped by violence and lawlessness since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in 1991.