Somalia: At least 100 killed in double car bombing in Mogadishu
Sylvie Claire / October 30, 2022
At least 100 people, including children, were killed in a double car bombing Saturday on a busy thoroughfare in the center of the capital Mogadishu, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said Sunday.
One hundred people were killed and 300 injured, he said after visiting the site of the attack.
The two “simultaneous explosions” occurred on a road alongside the ministry and caused “several casualties,” said Sadik Dudishe, spokesman for the Somali police. He said the attackers targeted “students and other civilians.
One of the vehicles filled with explosives managed to enter the ministry compound, triggering gunfire, said another police officer Ibrahim Mohamed. “A few minutes later, another explosion occurred in the same area,” he added.
Such attacks – for which there was no immediate claim of responsibility – are generally attributed by Somali authorities to the Shebab jihadist militants who regularly carry out attacks in the capital and major cities of the country. The Islamist group, linked to al-Qaeda, has been fighting the internationally backed federal government since 2007. It has been driven out of major cities – including Mogadishu in 2011 – but remains firmly entrenched in large rural areas, particularly in the south of the country.
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