Somalia aghast after truck bomb kills hundreds
Crews desperately search for survivors in capital Mogadishu’s shopping district
The death toll from the single deadliest attack in Somalia’s history surpassed 275 Sunday as emergency workers feverishly dug through the rubble of a bomb blast in Mogadishu that collapsed buildings and set nearby cars ablaze.
Around 300 people were injured when the truck explosion rocked a crowded shopping district Saturday. On Sunday, Mayor Tabid Abdi Mohamed pleaded with residents and businesses that owned earth- moving equipment to bring it to the blast site to help the desperate search for survivors— and bodies.
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, known as Farmajo, called for three days of mourning.
“Terror won’t win,” he said in the capital after donating blood and visiting some of the scores of wounded. “I call on our citizens to come out, extend help, donate
blood and comfort the bereaved. Let’s get through this together.”
Abshir Abdi Ahmed, deputy speaker of Somalia’s upper house of parliament, said the death toll still could rise.
Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire blamed the attack on the Somali militant group al- Shabab, which has not commented on the explosion. The group has carried out a series of attacks in recent years aimed at establishing a radical Islamist state, and Farmajo had stepped up efforts to combat the militants.
“They don’t care about the lives of Somali people, mothers, fathers and children,” Ali Khaire said. “They have targeted the most populated area inMogadishu, killing only civilians.”
Somalia’s SONNA news agency said the attack apparently involved two bombs, although details were unclear. The blast struck in the popular Hodan district in northwestern Mogadishu, busy with shops, businesses and hotels.
Residents were stunned by the enormity of the attack.
“In our 10- year experience as the first responder in # Mogadishu, we haven’t seen anything like this,” the Aamin Ambulance service tweeted Sunday.
Saturday’s bombing is one of the deadliest attacks in sub- Saharan Africa, larger than the Garissa University attack in Kenya in 2015 and the U.S. Embassy bombing sin Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
Relatives of the dead and wounded rushed to hospitals overwhelmed with victims.
“There’s nothing I can say,” Zainab Sharif, amother of four who lost her husband, said outside the hospital where he was pronounced dead. “We have lost everything.”
The U. S. State Department condemned the “senseless and cowardly act.” The U. S. mission in Somalia lauded “the heroic response of the Somali security forces and first responders and Somali citizens who rushed to the aid of their brothers and sisters.”
The United Nations expressed outrage at the attack and condolences to families of the victims. Michael Keating, U. N. special envoy to Somalia, tweeted Sunday, “Solidarity among Mog citizens is inspiring, including 2 donate blood in wake of yesterday’s horrendous attack that killed so many civilians.”
Al- Shabab, which translates as the Youth, emerged from a defunct Islamic group that ruledMogadishu a decade ago until Somali forces liberated the city. AlShabab has links to al- Qaeda and other terrorist groups and has drawn fighters from neighboring countries.
Al- Shabab also has staged attacks over the border in Kenya. The most deadly was at Garissa University when gunmen stormed the school in a bloodbath that killed 148.
The group promotes strict sharia law. The militants’ attacks have added to the difficulties faced by Farmajo, who was elected in February to lead the country of 14 million people that ranks among the world’s poorest.
Farmajo, 54, is the first democratically elected president of Somalia in more than two decades. The election was conducted by members of parliament instead of voters because of threats of violence by al- Shabab. Lawmakers held their vote in an aircraft hangar for security.
Farmajo has close ties to the United States. He holds dual Somali- U. S. citizenship and a degree from the State University of New York- Buffalo.