MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — A huge explosion from a truck bomb killed 20 people in Somalia’s capital yesterday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they’d heard in years.

The explosion appeared to target a hotel on a busy road in Hodan district and at least 15 people were injured, police captain Mohamed Hussein said. According to Hussein, the truck was being trailed by security forces after it raised suspicions.

Police said people were trapped in the rubble of Safari Hotel, which was largely destroyed in the explosion. The hotel is close to Somalia’s foreign ministry.

The Somalia-based extremist group al-Shabab recently stepped up attacks on army bases across south and central Somalia. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, al-Shabab often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu with deadly bombings.

Gunshots could be heard at the site and ambulance sirens wailed across the capital, which has been under tight security with military-manned checkpoints.

The explosion left a trail of destruction across a busy intersection, with several bodies and bloodied slippers and shoes. Windows of nearby buildings were shattered. Overturned cars lay in the street, burning as a large plume of smoke rose nearby.

“There was a traffic jam and the road was packed with bystanders and cars,” Abdinur Abdulle, a waiter at a nearby restaurant, said. “It’s a disaster.”

The blast occurred two days after the head of the US Africa Command was in Mogadishu to meet with Somalia’s president, and two days after the country’s defence minister and army chief resigned for undisclosed reasons.

The US military has stepped up drone strikes and other efforts this year against the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, which is also fighting the Somali military and over 20,000 African Union forces in the country.