MOGADISHU, March 2 (Xinhua) -- Al-Shabaab militants on Friday detonated a suicide bomb in a Somali military base in the outskirts of Mogadishu while capturing a nearby town.

A Police officer in Afgoye town which is located 30 kilometers south of the capital of Mogadishu told Xinhua by phone that the militants rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the military base but there is no word so far regarding casualties.

"They drove a minivan loaded with explosives into the military base run by the Somali army this morning. I don't have information about the casualties," the police officer who declined to be named said.

A resident told Xinhua that the blast was huge and the shockwaves could be felt from a distance.

"We heard a heavy blast from the side of the military base and gunfire. The whole place was shaking. We don't know what is happening there now," Said Mohamed, a trader in Afgoye said.

Al-Shabaab militants overran Balad town which is located about 30 kilometres north of Mogadishu in the mid-morning attack, taking control from government forces.

Witnesses said the militants captured the local police and district headquarters. A resident who also declined to be named confirmed to Xinhua that the militants are now in charge of the town.

"They came in the morning and went to the police headquarters and the district headquarters where they are now in control. There is very little movement in the town," witnesses said.