Three women killed in Somalia blast

At least three female street cleaners were killed and eight injured Sunday after an explosive hidden in the trash they collected went off in Somalia's capital Mogadishu.

According to government officials, the militant group Al Shabaab was probably behind the explosion, Xinhua reported.

Witnesses said the huge explosion could be heard across the Hodon district of Mogadishu where the female sanitation workers were working.

"We heard screams and noise shortly after the explosion and when we got to the street where the blast occurred there were blood and human body parts all over the place," an eyewitness said.

Sanitation workers, who are mainly women employed by the government to clean the capital, have previously been targeted in similar attacks which have not been claimed by any group.

Islamist militant group Al Shabaab has often targetted Somalian government civil servants and officials as well as security forces.