A suicide car bomb exploded on Thursday at a checkpoint near Somalia’s national theater in the capital Mogadishu, killing the bomber, police said.

At least six people, mostly soldiers, were killed when a bomb exploded at an army checkpoint in Mogadishu, the second blast Thursday in the troubled Somali capital, AFP reported.

The national theater stands about 500 meters away from the presidential palace. “The bomber blew up the car after police ordered him to stop at gun point,” Abdikadir Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters.

The explosion also destroyed the front wall of a nearby restaurant. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but al Shabab militants have been trying to disrupt Somalia’s protracted parliamentary elections.

The three-month vote is due to end on December 29.

Source: AFP