MOGADISHU, Aug. 5 (Xinhua) -- A huge blast ripped through a checkpoint in Afgoye town about 30 kilometers west of the Somali capital Mogadishu, police and witnesses said on Sunday.

A police officer who requested anonymity told Xinhua that several people were killed in the blast and they are trying to establish more details.

"We heard that a suicide bomber detonated car bomb at the checkpoint killing several people," he said.

"We have heard huge blast and learnt government forces at the checkpoint were targeted," an eye witness, Ahmed Elmi, told Xinhua.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack but the terror group al-Shabab conducted similar attacks in the past.