276 killed in terrorist truck bomb blast in Mogadishu
Attack is the deadliest ever in the Somalia capital and officials warn the death toll could rise even higher
THE death toll from a truck bomb that exploded near a hotel and market in Mogadishu rose to 276 yesterday, making it the worst terrorist atrocity in the country’s history.
Saturday’s attack targeted a busy street close to several important ministries in Somalia’s capital. Officials say 300 people have been wounded.
“This is the deadliest attack ever,” police official Ibrahim Mohamed told AFP. “It is very difficult to get a precise number because the dead bodies were taken to different medical centres and some of them [were taken] directly by their relatives for burial.”
Most of the bodies have been burnt beyond recognition, and police are braced for the number to rise because of the severity of the injuries sustained in the blast, which is the Horn of Africa’s deadliest single attack.
Following the attack Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, the president, declared three days of mourning.
Crowds gathered in Mogadishu yesterday with protesters condemning the bloodshed.
The Somali government blamed the attack on Al-shabaab, an Islamist terror group that has fought a long running insurgency against Mogadishu. The al-qaeda-affiliated organisation had not claimed responsibility.
Al-shabaab has recently carried out multiple attacks on the city using grenades, guns and bombs in its quest to topple the government, which is backed by the UN.
In January, the group killed at least 28 people by crashing a car laden with explosives into a hotel near the parliament and then detonating a second device when ambulances arrived. In June it murdered 31 at a pizza restaurant.
The organisation, forced out of Mogadishu in 2011, has recently suffered severe territorial losses to African Union peacekeepers and government troops, supported by US drone strikes.
“They don’t care about the lives of Somali people, mothers, fathers and children,” Hassan Ali Khaire, the prime minister, said of the weekend’s bombing. “They have targeted the most populated area, killing only civilians.”
Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, said yesterday: “The UK condemns in the strongest terms the cowardly attacks in Mogadishu, which have claimed so many innocent lives.
“Those responsible have shown no regard for human life or the suffering of the Somali people. The UK will continue to support Somalia in the fight against terrorism.”
Despite the frequency of attacks on Mogadishu, the scale of the blast over the weekend has left the city reeling.
Concrete buildings in the Hodan district were flattened by the explosion, with cars set on fire and smoke hanging heavy in the air. Hospitals put out desperate pleas for blood donations, and dazed people searched through piles of rubble, metal and bloodied sandals looking for family members.
“With a heavy heart I would say this is the worst attack I have ever witnessed,” Masoud Mohamed, who lost family members in the blast, told AP.
Among those reported to have died in the attack are three brothers who worked at a nearby shopping centre, four volunteers working for the Somali Red Crescent Society, and a local freelance journalist.