MOGADISHU, Somalia — A giant explosion rocked Somalia's capital Saturday morning, killing at least 79 people. The blast, caused ...
MOGADISHU, Somalia — A giant explosion rocked Somalia's capital Saturday morning, killing at least 79 people.
The blast, caused by a vehicle packed with bombs, appeared to target the morning rush hour at a busy tax collection center located near one of two checkpoints that control all entry and exit from the city. Although no group has yet claimed the attack, the al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamist militia al-Shabab has regularly attacked government institutions around the country.
The director of Medina Hospital in Mogadishu said he had received 73 bodies; others were brought to the Digfer and Somali Sudanese hospitals, their directors confirmed. Mohamed Yusuf, Medina Hospital’s director, said he feared the toll would continue to rise as his teams dealt with dozens of severely injured patients.
A government spokesman, Ismail Mukhtar, said the dead included more than a dozen university students and numerous police officers. A Somali officer at the Turkish Embassy confirmed the deaths of two Turkish nationals employed by a private company called En-Ez Construction that was working on the road where the attack occurred.
Omar Mohamud Mohamed, Mogadishu’s mayor, told reporters gathered near the blast site that at least 90 civilians, mostly students, were injured in the explosion. Witnesses described a ghastly scene.
“When the explosion happened, I was coming out of a nearby tea shop. With my own eyes, I have seen pieces of human beings and blood scattered around,” said Osman Abdulle, a police sergeant. “I have collected the bodies of my fellow policemen, who I recognized. I have also seen a university bus reduced to ashes.”
Another witness, Abdisalam Halane, said he heard the blast and rushed toward it, hoping to help friends in the police force who were stationed at the checkpoint. He counted at least 20 bodies on the ground but said many of them had been ripped apart.
“Blood and the remains of bodies were everywhere,” he said.
Somalia’s government nominally controls Mogadishu, but routine attacks by al-Shabab give the city of 2.5 million people the feel of a contested area. Saturday’s attack was the largest since Oct. 14, 2017, when two truck bombs detonated by al-Shabab killed nearly 600 people in a market near the city center.
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