Mogadishu: At least 100 people were killed and 300 were injured when two car bombs exploded outside the education ministry in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Saturday, according to a statement issued by the country’s president early on Sunday.
“Our people who were massacred … included mothers with their children in their arms, fathers who had medical conditions, students who were sent to study, businessmen who were struggling with the lives of their families,” President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said after visiting the site of blast.
Although the president blamed the Islamist group Al Shabaab, no one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. Al Shabaab usually avoids taking credit for attacks that result in a large number of casualties.
The first of the explosions occurred near a busy intersection in Mogadishu, near the education ministry. The second occurrence occurred when ambulances arrived and people gathered to assist the victims.
The blast wave shattered windows in the area. The tarmac just outside the building was covered in blood.
The attack occurred in the same location as Somalia’s largest bombing, which killed over 500 people in the same month in 2017. A truck bomb exploded outside a busy hotel near the K5 intersection, which is lined with government offices, restaurants, and kiosks, in that blast.
According to President Mohamud, the number of victims could rise. He had directed the government to provide emergency medical care to the injured, some of whom were in critical condition. (getzonedup.com)
