People in the town of Afgoye, about 30 km outside the capital Mogadishu, heard a loud explosion late Sunday from the direction of a known Al-Shabab base, housed in former government buildings.

Some residents said there had been a flurry of insurgent activity in the area on Sunday amid rumors that some of the rebels' top commanders were meeting.

"I am sure there was a meeting going on in the base near the orphanage. Armored cars and expensive 4x4s were buzzing around yesterday afternoon," Afgoye resident Osman Odowa told Reuters. "One of the missiles struck right around there," Odowa said.

Afgoye is a strategic junction on the road leading from the capital to the south of the Horn of Africa nation. A senior Al-Shabab official said two missiles were launched from warships off the anarchic country's shores.