Deadly Car Bomb Kills 76 In Somali Capital
At least 76 people died and scores injured in one of the deadliest car bomb explosion at a busy security checkpoint in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital on Saturday.
The death toll could rise as scores of people were rushed to hospitals, a Somali government spokesman said.
A local Aamin Ambulance service confirmed at least 76 dead and 70 wounded. “It could still be higher," the ambulance director, Abdukadir Abdirahman Haji said. Many of those killed were students who were returning to class, Mayor Omar Mahamud present at the scene said. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast, but Islamist militants group al-Shabaab has often carried out such attacks there. Al-Shabab — the al-Qaida-linked group — was pushed out of the capital in 2011 but controls parts of Somalia’s southern and central regions and targets high-profile areas such as checkpoints and hotels. The latest attack has evoked memories of an eerily similar terrorist attack in Mogadishu in October 2017 that killed over 500 people. The attack also raises concerns about the readiness of Somali forces to take over the country’s responsibility from an African Union force in the coming months.
A local Aamin Ambulance service confirmed at least 76 dead and 70 wounded. “It could still be higher," the ambulance director, Abdukadir Abdirahman Haji said. Many of those killed were students who were returning to class, Mayor Omar Mahamud present at the scene said. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast, but Islamist militants group al-Shabaab has often carried out such attacks there. Al-Shabab — the al-Qaida-linked group — was pushed out of the capital in 2011 but controls parts of Somalia’s southern and central regions and targets high-profile areas such as checkpoints and hotels. The latest attack has evoked memories of an eerily similar terrorist attack in Mogadishu in October 2017 that killed over 500 people. The attack also raises concerns about the readiness of Somali forces to take over the country’s responsibility from an African Union force in the coming months.
Latest Videos
