Death toll in Somalia truck bombing surpasses 100

[News_Editor]

Death toll in Somalia truck bombing surpasses 100

2011-10-06 16:30:29 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll following a truck bombing which devastated a government building in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Tuesday has surpassed 100, the United Nations (UN) reported on Thursday.

The attack happened on Tuesday when a large truck carrying explosives detonated at a checkpoint which leads to a government unit housing a number of ministries, causing heavy damage to the compound's buildings.

The powerful blast left several vehicles burning and dozens of bodies scattered in the area. Among the deceased - in addition to several soldiers - were scores of students who were waiting to take an exam near the Education Ministry to seek academic scholarships to study abroad in Turkey.

On Thursday, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said it had been told by local sources that the death toll has risen from 70 to at least 100. "Our estimates are that between 100 and 120 people have died between [Tuesday] and [Wednesday]," Ali Muse, head of the city's ambulance service, told OCHA.

Scores of people have also been injured, many of them who remain in an extremely critical condition. "We have 167 injured people, some very serious; there are people with 60-70 percent burns on their bodies," said Dunio Ali Mohamed, head of the medical department at Medina Hospital. An unknown number of injured people were also taken to Benadir hospital.

Tuesday's attack was the deadliest in recent memory in the African country. The Somali militant group al-Shabaab immediately claimed responsibility for the attack through its spokesman Sheikh Ali Mohamed Rage.

Al-Shabaab was the militant wing of the Somali Council of Islamic Courts that took over most of southern Somalia in the second half of 2006. Despite efforts from the Somali and Ethiopian government, the group has continued its violent insurgency in southern and central Somalia.

In addition, the al Qaida-linked group was likely responsible for a wave of five coordinated suicide car bombings in October 2008 that simultaneously hit targets in two cities in northern Somalia, killing at least 26 people and injuring 29 others. Al-Shabaab has been accused of conducting the twin suicide bombings in Kampala, Uganda, on July 11, 2010, that killed more than 70 people.

However, in early August, al-Shabaab announced their retreat from Mogadishu's war-ravaged city following fierce clashes with government forces and the African Union. The group's spokesperson said at that time that they had withdrawn in order to save civilian lives but vowed launching operations against government and African Union forces.

Somalia has not had an effective government since Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown two decades ago.

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