Two explosions have rocked Somalia’s capital in what appears to be an ongoing attack at the ministry of education in a high-traffic area that houses key government offices.

Police said there were scores of casualties in the blasts at noon in Mogadishu, but they had no overall count yet.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility.

The attack occurred on a day the president, prime minister and other senior officials were meeting to discuss violent extremism, especially by the al Qaida-affiliated al-Shabab group.

Al-Shabab often targets the capital with attacks on high-profile locations that begin with explosions and continue with gunmen entering and battling security teams.

The group stormed the education ministry in 2015.

The new attack occurred at Zobe junction, which was the scene of a massive al-Shabab blast in 2017 that killed more than 500 people.

Somalia’s government is engaged in a new offensive against the extremist group which the US has described as one of al Qaida’s deadliest organisations.