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The death toll after Saturday’s bombing in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu has risen to at least a hundred, says the country’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
– So far, 100 have died and 300 are injured, and the number in terms of both dead and injured continues to increase, he says after visiting the bomb site.
Two powerful explosions took place in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Saturday.
According to the police, it was two vehicles packed with explosives, which, a few minutes apart, exploded next to the country’s Ministry of Education in the densely populated district of Zobe.
The attack came on the same day that the president and prime minister, plus several senior advisers, had gathered for a meeting to discuss how to combat violent extremism – particularly that carried out by the al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group al-Shabab.
Saturday’s attack coincided with the fifth anniversary of an attack in almost the exact same location – when more than 500 people were killed and close to 300 injured.
– This is not right. God willing, they will not be able to cause another Zobe incident, President Mohamud said, referring to al-Shabaab.
The jihadist group has been trying to overthrow the country’s government for 15 years. They were driven out of the capital in 2011 with the help of an African Union (AU) force, but the group still controls parts of the countryside and continues to carry out deadly attacks on both civilian and military targets.