Final toll in Somalia blast stands at 512

MOGADISHU, Somalia — The final death toll in October’s massive truck bombing in Somalia’s capital is 512 people, according to the committee tasked with looking into the country’s worstever attack.

The final toll is a dramatic increase from previous estimates of more than 350 killed. The committee’s report, obtained by the Associated Press, says an additional 312 people were wounded in the Mogadishu bombing and 62 people remain missing.

Somalia’s government has blamed the Al Qaedalinked Shabab extremist group for the Oct. 14 attack, which struck a crowded street.

Security officials said the bomb weighed between 1,300 and 1,700 pounds as the extremist group’s bomb-making capabilities grow.

The attack appalled Somalis, with some calling it their “9/11.” Thousands later marched in defiance against the extremist group, while the president announced a new military offensive.

The Shabab often attacks high-profile areas in Mogadishu. Somali intelligence officials have said the massive truck bomb in October was meant to target the heavily guarded airport, where several countries have embassies, but instead detonated in the crowded street after soldiers opened fire and flattened one of the truck’s tires.

The Islamic extremist group, the deadliest in Africa, has been targeted this year by nearly 30 U.S. military drone strikes after the Trump administration approved expanded operations against it and declared the southern part of the Horn of Africa nation a zone of active hostilities.

The U.S. now has more than 500 military personnel in Somalia.

Farah Abdi Warsameh Associated Press THE OCTOBER BOMBING in the crowded streets of Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, was blamed on the Shabab militant group. Previous estimates had put the death toll closer to 350. Sixty-two are still missing.