More than a hundred people have been killed in a major act of violence in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu. Two explosions happened just minutes apart on Saturday afternoon, at a busy intersection surrounded by several government buildings.
So far, 100 have been killed and 300 injured, and the number of dead and injured both continues to rise, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said after visiting the bomb site.
At the same intersection, a major terrorist attack took place exactly five years ago, where more than 500 people were killed. The jihadist terror group al-Shabab was behind it and has also claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack.
The President appeals for help
The first explosion occurred along a wall outside the Somali Ministry of Education. There were several street vendors and many other people.
– I couldn’t count the bodies on the ground in terms of the number of victims, says Abdirazak Hassan, who witnessed the explosion and its aftermath.
The second explosion happened near a restaurant, which was full of people at lunchtime.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud appeals for help.
– We ask our international partners and Muslims around the world to send their doctors here as we cannot send all victims abroad for treatment, he says.
The attack was carried out on the same day that Somalia’s president and prime minister had gathered leaders and advisers for deliberations on how to combat violent extremism in the country. It is then above all about the violence carried out by al-Shabab.
Watch the president’s statement in the player above.