Mogadishu, Sep 26 (IANS): Seven people were killed and nine others injured in a suicide bombings at the El-Gab junction near the Presidential Palace in Mogadishu, the police in the Somalian capital said.

Abdifatah Aden Hassan, the Somali police spokesman said a car laden with explosives was detonated near a checkpoint on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.

"We know that seven people were killed and nine others injured in the blast," he said.

Witnesses told Xinhua that the security forces were deployed to the scene to secure the place.

"This was a huge explosion and when I tried to approach the scene, I saw cars were destroyed due to the impact of the explosion," Ahmed Ali, a witness, said.

Al-Shabab which is fighting the government claimed responsibility for the attack.

The group was routed from Mogadishu in 2011 by the allied forces and has had to abandon most of its strongholds, but it still controls vast rural areas and remains the key threat to peace in Somalia.