Mogadishu Airport Explosion Photo Update: Death Toll Grows As Al-Shabab Suspected For Car Bomb In Somalia Capital

UPDATED: 2:16 p.m. EST -- As many as 30 people were killed in the coordinated car bomb explosions in the capital city of Somalia on Monday, according to a new report. A freelance journalist for the New York Times tweeted that 44 other people were wounded in the attacks in Mogadishu, as well.

The al-Shabab terror group, which mainly operates out of Somalia but has also struck in neighboring Kenya, claimed responsibility for the attacks hours after the car bombs detonated.

Original story:

At least 16 people were killed after a car bomb detonated near the international airport in the capital city of Somalia on Monday, according to multiple reports. The death toll rose rapidly after initial estimates put the number of fatalities at three.

The powerful explosion in Mogadishu blew off roofs and doors of structures, leaving officials to predict additional deaths would be reported, according to the Independent.

Three separate suicide bombers were employed in the apparent act of terror, but it was not immediately clear who or what the target was. Aside from one car bomb going off near the airport, another exploded outside of the headquarters of the African Union peacekeeping force AMISOM, where at least three security officers were killed, Reuters reported.

Al Qaeda offshoot group al-Shabab has been launching a series of terror attacks across Somalia and in neighboring Kenya. The militant group later claimed responsibility for carrying out Monday's deadly attacks, according to a tweet from a local news outlet.

"We believe al-Shabab is behind the attack," a police officer said.

Photos from the scene showed massive devastation with heavy plumes of smoke rising into the air and being able to be seen for miles. Buildings and cars were reduced to their shells from the blasts.

Aside from near the airport and outside of the AMISOM headquarters, a third car bomb drove straight toward AMISOM and through a checkpoint before security shot at the driver. That car then detonated, with the force from the blast damaging a nearby hotel.

While Monday's was the first al-Shabab attack of the new year, it was just the latest in a series of terror attacks near the Horn of Africa. Most recently, al-Shabab killed at least 12 people by using a truck bomb near an African Union military base. But Somalia has mostly been on the receiving end of al-Shabab attacks, as the militant group has been carrying out deadly acts of terror there since 2002.