At least 39 people were killed and dozens wounded on Friday in a string of explosions near a popular hotel in the Somalian capital, Mogadishu, police said.
“We have confirmed 39 civilians died and 40 others were injured in yesterday’s blasts,” said Mohammed Hussein, a police officer in the city. “The death toll might rise because some people are still missing.”
Somalian security official Abdulahi Ahmed had earlier put the death toll at 20. Twin car bombs exploded in the capital within moments of each other, followed by gunfire and a third blast, sending thick plumes of black smoke into the sky, according to a reporter.
Photo: Reuters
Mogadishu faces frequent bombings at the hands of al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate that has been fighting to overthrow the internationally backed Somalian government for more than a decade.
The blasts occurred near the Sahafi Hotel and Criminal Investigation Division police headquarters.
“The target of the attack was the Sahafi Hotel and even though the attackers used car bombs to make their way into the premises, the security forces stopped them,” Ahmed said.
“All of the four al-Shabaab attackers were killed outside” the hotel building, he added.
An initial “two blasts struck the perimeter of the Sahafi Hotel along the main road,” said police official Ibrahim Mohammed, who earlier gave a preliminary toll of more than 10 dead.
Witnesses said a third blast came from a suicide bomber who detonated an explosives-laden vest at the hotel’s front entrance, as three attackers in Somalian military uniform were shot at the rear entrance.
Abdulkadir Abdirahman, director of Mogadishu’s Aamin Ambulance Service, earlier said his team had recovered 10 bodies and 40 wounded.
However, Bashir Hassan Farah, another ambulance medic, later said he saw 20 dead bodies, most of them civilians.
According to sources, the fatalities included the son of the hotel owner, Abdirashid Ilqeyte, who was killed in an al-Shabaab attack at the establishment in November 2015.
The bombs destroyed parts of the hotel perimeter despite layered security, and several shops and other buildings nearby were destroyed.
Sources said that several civilian minibuses and rickshaws that were passing by when the blast occurred were destroyed, and that the passengers were killed or wounded.
“There was chaos after the blast. Some of the vehicles were buses, which caught fire. I could see people screaming as they fled the buses,” witness Fadumo Ali said.
“This area is always dense and traffic jams are normal. This increased the casualties. Most of the dead and wounded were civilians,” added Awil Mohamed, another witness.
Al-Shabaab claimed the responsibility for the incidents.
“Armed members from the al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen carried [out] a complex attack targeting the Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu, where senior Somali government officials stay,” the militant group said in a statement quoted by a Web site that supports al-Shabaab.
“The attack was opened with a martyrdom car bomb blast and the fighters made their way into the building,” the statement added.
Al-Shabaab were forced out of the capital by African Union troops in 2011, but they still control parts of the countryside and attack government, military and civilian targets, seemingly at will, in Mogadishu and towns in the region.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese