At least 13 people dead after two suicide attacks in the area of Somalia's Mogadishu airport, media reports.

The blasts were in fact twin suicide car bombs tearing through checkpoints near Mogadishu International Airport, according to Harun Maruf, a local journalist.

BREAKING: 1st suicide car bomb attempted to "sped through" the checkpoint; 2nd bomber detonated car amongst the security personnel: source — Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) July 26, 2016

Al-Shabaab, a radical Islamist group, has taken responsibility for the attacks, claiming to have killed over 12 people, Reuters reports.

According to Al Jazeera, the first explosion occurred near the entrance used by African Union forces, while the second blast hit a checkpoint manned by Somali government forces.

A huge column of smoke is seen rising from the site of the blasts. Witness reports are coming of gunfire being heard in the area of Somalia's Mogadishu airport.

#Mogadishu Massive explosion around the airport area. It was massive that it felt like an earthquake pic.twitter.com/0I72dCQiFg — Mo Shire (@Moshireh) July 26, 2016

Thick smoke seen billowing from the #Mogadishu Int'l Airport. The scene of a deadly twin blast. #Somalia. pic.twitter.com/1uMWADOH0C — Abdulaziz Billow Ali (@AbdulBillowAli) July 26, 2016

Two huge explosion heard across #Mogadishu. First one is believed to have gone off outside #Somalia's main #airport, second one nearby. — Abdulaziz Billow Ali (@AbdulBillowAli) July 26, 2016

​One of the witnesses reports ambulances rushing to the scene of the attacks.

Number of people were confirmed dead in the 2 suicide attacks at check Points outside of #Mogadishu airport. I can see rushing ambulances — Mohamed Moalimuu (@MOALIMUU) July 26, 2016

Local officials have not yet commented on the situation.

Somalia has been experiencing violence since the country devolved into civil war in the early 1990s. The state’s collapse provided a breeding ground for warlords, pirates and the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) was deployed in the country in 2007.