Faizel Patel, Radio Islam News – 15-10-2017
Somali Police are reporting that the death toll from the most powerful bomb blast witnessed in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu has risen to 231 with more than 275 injured, making it the deadliest single attack ever in this Horn of Africa nation.
Police say a truck bomb exploded outside a hotel on Saturday in the K5 intersection that is lined with government offices, restaurants and kiosks, flattening several buildings and setting dozens of vehicles on fire.
Two hours later, another blast struck the capital’s Medina district.
Mohamed Yusuf, the director of Medina hospital says doctors struggled to assist horrifically wounded victims, many burned beyond recognition.
“The hospital is overwhelmed by both dead and wounded. This is really horrendous, unlike any other time in the past.”
President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo declared three days of national mourning and called for donations of blood and funds to victims of the attack.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although al-Shabaab, which is allied to al-Qaeda, stages regular attacks in the capital and other parts of the country.
Al Shabaab controlled Mogadishu between 2007 and 2011 but withdrew as fighting raged. African Union peacekeepers also drove them out of most other territory they controlled.
– AP/Reuters
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