Somalia Twin Car Bomb Blasts Kill 100 In Capital | General News

Twin automobile bomb explosions close to a busy junction in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, killed not less than 100 folks, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud says.

Among the victims "who were massacred [were] mothers with their children in their arms", the AFP information company quotes the president as saying.

He appealed for worldwide medical assist to take care of the 300 injured.

The president blamed the al-Shabab militant group for Saturday's assault which focused the schooling ministry.

The pro-jihadist Somali Memo web site has reported that the group has mentioned it was behind the blasts.
An affiliate of al-Qaeda, al-Shabab has engaged in a long-running battle with the federal Somali government.

President Mohamud, in energy for 5 months pledged "total war" in opposition to the Islamist militants after they attacked a well-liked lodge in Mogadishu in August killing not less than 21 folks.

Saturday's blasts occurred inside minutes of one another, destroying buildings and autos within the neighborhood.

The first hit the schooling ministry after which the second went off as medical groups arrived to take care of the aftermath, the Reuters information company reviews.

A lorry exploded on the similar junction virtually precisely 5 years in the past, leaving greater than 500 folks useless - the worst such assault within the nation's historical past.

After Saturday's assault, a whole bunch of individuals have gathered close to the positioning, in search of lacking relations.
Among these killed had been a distinguished journalist and senior police officer.

"I am here to tell the Somali people that such October attacks will not happen again, God willing," President Mohamud mentioned after visiting the scene of the assault.

"The bombings were a message sent by the militants to show that they are still alive, despite the fact that they were defeated in the battlefield by government forces," he added.

The African Union (AU) mission in Somalia mentioned that the "attacks underline the urgency and critical importance of the ongoing military offensive to further degrade al-Shabab".

The US, Turkey, Qatar and Germany have all condemned the assault.

Al-Shabab has been battling the AU-backed federal government for management of Somalia for round 15 years.

The group controls a lot of southern and central Somalia, however has additionally been capable of prolong its affect into areas managed by the government primarily based in Mogadishu.