Suicide car bomb kills 10 at Somalia's UN Mine Offices

At least 10 people were killed after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car outside the United Nations Mine Action Service offices in Mogadishu on Tuesday, a a Somali police official said.

Captain Mohamed Hussein said that unlike previous attacks blamed on the al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab, gunmen did not accompany the suicide bomber, reports the New York Times.

Hussein said that the suicide car bomber tried to speed through the barrier at the U.N. office but guards shot at the car.

He added that a second suicide blast targeted a checkpoint manned by Somali security forces near the African Union base in Mogadishu.

The casualties there remain unclear.

Reports suggest that Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the blasts.

The militant group is waging an insurgency against Somalia's weak U.N.-backed government and wants to establish an Islamic emirate in the country based on a strict form of Islam.