Death toll rises to 85 in Somalia’s capital ‘Mogadishu’
A general view shows the scene of an explosion in KM4 street in the Hodan district of Mogadishu, Somalia October 14, 2017. REUTERS/Feisal Omar
The death toll of Saturday’s two bomb blasts in busy locations in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, has risen to 85.
Another 250 people were wounded in the blast, which occurred at a busy junction, Abdulkadir Abdirahman said.
Hundreds of people came to the junction in search of missing family members, and police cordoned off the area for security reasons.
President Mohamed Abdullahi “Farmajo” Mohamed has declared three days of mourning for the victims of the blast.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, so far. However, al-Shabab, a Takfiri militant group linked to al-Qaeda, is often behind such deadly terrorist attacks in the conflict-stricken country, which is located on the Horn of Africa.
Government forces have been battling al-Shabab militants since 2006. The militants controlled Mogadishu between 2007 and 2011. In 2011, the Takfiri militants were driven out of the capital with help from the AU troops, and a period of relative calm started in Mogadishu.
