At Least 6 Dead, 16 Injured due to Blast in Capital of Somalia (VIDEO)

A huge explosion, followed by sounds of gunfire is shaking the city of Mogadishu, Reuters news agency reported on Monday.

"A suicide car bomb rammed into an office in the Hodan district of Mogadishu," the media reported citing major Mohamed Nur, a police officer.

According to Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Amin Ambulance service, 6 people died and 16 others were injured in the blast.

The al-Shabaab terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The incident occurred just ahead of the opening of the Somali parliament's fourth session.

Somalia has been engulfed in violence since the eruption of a civil war in the early 1990s between clan-based armed groups. Al-Shabaab has conducted numerous attacks across the country, aiming to establish a radical version of Sharia law.

​​*al-Qaeda is a terrorist group, banned in Russia