Massive car bomb in Somali capital

An explosives-laden car has blown up in the centre of Somalia's capital Mogadishu, killing at least one person and injuring another, police say.

The vehicle was parked next to a hospital in a busy road that is flanked by several hotels.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, though the Islamist militant group Al Shabaab has launched frequent attacks in the city.

"So far, I have seen one dead civilian. She was a woman. One man was also injured," Mohamed Hussein, a police officer, told Reuters on Friday.

The explosion comes hours after the US military confirmed it had killed a high-level al-Shabab extremist commander in an airstrike last weekend.

Ali Mohamed Hussein had been blamed for planning deadly attacks in Mogadishu and is the highest-level al-Shabaab commander killed this year.