Somalia stunned by blasts, 100 killed and nearly 300 injured; Government blames al-Shabaab

100 killed in two car bombings in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu. At the same time, many people are seriously injured, due to which the death toll is feared to increase. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamed said at the scene early Sunday that nearly 300 people were injured in the blasts. He termed these attacks as extremely cruel and cowardly acts.

So far no group has claimed responsibility for these attacks. However, the Somali government has blamed the attacks on the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab terrorist group, which has been carrying out frequent attacks in the capital. The attacks in Mogadishu came on a day when the president, prime minister and other senior officials were meeting to discuss expanded efforts to combat terrorist groups, including al-Shabaab.

Explosion outside the boundary wall of the Ministry of Education
Officials said the first blast took place outside the education ministry’s boundary wall, while the second blast targeted a busy restaurant. “An ambulance that helped those injured in the first attack was also destroyed by the second explosion,” Abdulkadir Adan, the director of the ambulance service, said in a tweet.

‘Could not count the dead bodies lying on the ground’
Abdirzak Hassan, an eyewitness, said I was 100 meters away when the second blast happened. I could not count the dead bodies lying on the ground. There was the sound of people screaming and shouting. Many people were pleading for help. In October 2017, 500 people were killed in a truck bomb blast at the same place. It is the deadliest in the area since that attack.