Mogadishu, Jul 11 (IANS): At least seven people were killed and ten others injured in a suicide car bombing attack targeting Mogadishu police chief in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday, police and witnesses said.

A police officer, requesting anonymity, said that a vehicle borne improvised explosive device targeted the vehicle of Mogadishu police commander Frahan Qarole at Banadir junction. The attack caused casualties but the police chief survived the attack, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Somali police spokesman Sadik Aden confirmed the attack which took place at Banadir junction hit the vehicle of Qarole but the police chief survived the attack.

The impact of the deadly explosion destroyed several buildings nearby.

Aden said that at the time of the attack, the convoy of vehicles carrying Mogadishu police chief was travelling between Banadir and Medina hospitals.

The incident caused a huge traffic snarl-up in Mogadishu streets as photos and plume of black smoke from the scene indicated that the explosion was huge.