MOGADISHU— The number of people killed in an attack on Saturday at a busy intersection in the Somali capital Mogadishu has risen to 100, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said.
“So far, people who died have reached 100 and 300 are wounded, and the number for both the death and wounded continues to increase,” he said after visiting the bombing location.
Two cars packed with explosives were detonated minutes apart near the busy Zobe junction, followed by gunfire in an attack targeting Somalia’s education ministry.
The attack took place at the same busy junction where a truck packed with explosives blew up on Oct 14, 2017, killing 512 people and injuring more than 290.
Mohamud described the incident as “history”, saying “it is the same place, and the same innocent people involved”.
In August, the Al-Shabaab group launched a 30-hour gun and bomb attack on the popular Hayat hotel in Mogadishu, killing 21 people and wounding 117.
Mohamud, who was elected in May, vowed after the August siege to wage “all-out war” on the group.
Somalia – like its neighbours in the Horn of Africa – is in the grip of the worst drought in more than 40 years. Four failed rainy seasons have wiped out livestock and crops.
The conflict-wracked nation is considered one of the most vulnerable to climate change but is particularly ill-equipped to cope with the crisis as it battles the deadly insurgency
Source: Nam News Network