The death toll from the Somalia blast has risen to 18, with 40 others wounded.

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Authorities say an explosives-laden car exploded at a security checkpoint in the central Somalia city of Beledweyne on Saturday, killing at least 18 people and injuring 40 others.

The Hirshabelle state interior minister, Abdirahman Dahir Gure, reported the toll to press.

“Twenty of the wounded have been admitted to Beledweyne hospitals, while another 20 are in critical condition, prompting a request for their airlift to Mogadishu for advanced medical treatment,” he explained.

Hirshabelle is a state that encompasses Beledweyne, the capital of the Hiran area and the site of the Somali government’s most recent military effort against al-Qaeda’s East African offshoot, al-Shabab.

Images on social media showed billowing black smoke and a smoldering truck cab at the gate.

The bodies of ten victims were carried to Beledweyne General Hospital, according to Dr. Suleyman Abdi Ali, director.

Al-Shabab, which frequently conducts such assaults and controls portions of Somalia, made no immediate claim of responsibility.

“It was a truck loaded with explosive devices that forcefully passed through the government-manned checkpoint, and a pickup vehicle belonging to security personnel was chasing it when it exploded,” witness Abdikadir Arba, who said he was about 200 meters away and was one of the first responders, told The Associated Press by phone.