Mogadishu, July 23 (TIWN) At least 11 people were killed and 15 injured on Monday in a suicide car bomb attack near a checkpoint close to Somali capital Mogadishu's Aden Adde International Airport, the police said.

The attack occurred between the Afrik hotel, which was damaged, and a checkpoint on the K-4 road leading to Mogadishu''s airport, Efe news reported.  Police officer Ali Wiirow told Efe news that he witnessed the attack which occurred in a crowded area and that he saw 11 corpses.  Five of the security force members were killed in the attack, including the one in charge of the checkpoint -- Hussein Aanka -- who belonged to Somalia''s National Intelligence and Security Agency.  Security forces put up a cordon around the attacked area, where several vehicles lined up to get through the checkpoint were damaged, the report said. 

Near the airport there is the so-called "Mogadishu green zone", where many embassies, UN personnel and the African Nation''s mission to Somalia among others are located.  Although no organization claimed responsibility for the blast, the Al-Shabaab extremist group has frequently carried out similar attacks in the Somalian capital.  One of the most recent and deadly attacks by Al-Shabaab took place on July 12 in Kismayo city where at least 26 people were killed, including a US citizen, a Briton and a Canadian, while 50 others were injured.