Students taking a test for a Turkish scholarship were among at least 70 people killed in a suicide bombing attack near the ministry of education building in Somalia's capital on Tuesday.

The radical Islamist group al-Shabab carried out the attack by driving a truck loaded with explosives to a checkpoint leading to a government complex in Mogadishu. An official of the group claimed the attack targeted cabinet ministers holding a meeting inside the complex.

Charred bodies and burning vehicles were seen around the site of the explosion, which also wounded 150 people, mostly civilians. Staff from the Medina hospital treated unconscious, burned, blinded and mangled victims.

Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed condemned the attack.

"I am extremely shocked and saddened by this cruel and inhumane act of violence against the most vulnerable in our society," Ahmed said in a statement, according to Al Jazeera.

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also issued a statement through his spokesman condemning the bombing.
"The secretary-general is appalled by the vicious suicide bomb attack targeting government offices and ministries in Mogadishu today," Al Jazeera quoted Martin Nesirky as saying.

Suldan Sarah, the communications director for the Somali president, told Al Jazeera that the majority of the victims had been students.

Students were lined up and sitting to take the exam for scholarships offered by Turkey when the bomb went off.