At Least 30 People Killed In Somalia Bombings
At Least 30 People Killed In Somalia Bombings
An al Shabaab suicide bomber targets a busy road junction while a second bomb explodes at a nearby restaurant.
09:12, UK,Monday 29 February 2016
The scene in Baidoa, where at least 30 people were killed by two explosions
At least 30 people have been killed in a double bomb attack by the militant Islamist group al Shabaab in the Somalian city of Baidoa.
Abdurashid Abdulahi, governor of the Bay region, said all of those killed were civilians and that 61 people had also been injured, 15 of them seriously.
The bombs were detonated on Sunday afternoon at a busy junction and a nearby restaurant in the city, which is around 150 miles from the country's capital, Mogadishu.
Police said a suicide car bomb blew up at the junction but it was not clear whether the second bomb was planted or carried by a suicide bomber.
People and soldiers search the rubble of a building ruined in the bombing
Authorities said the restaurant and junction had been very busy at the time of the explosions.
Hospital officials said many of the bodies were charred beyond recognition.
Witness Ismail Olad told Reuters the two locations had been full of civilians and security forces, adding: "I heard a huge crash at the busy junction and, as I ran, I heard another blast at a restaurant ahead of me.
"The whole place was covered by smoke."
Al Shabaab said it carried out the attacks, the latest in a number of suicide bombings aimed at toppling Somalia's western-backed government.
The group's ultimate aim is to bring the African nation under its strict version of Islamic rule.
Reuters quoted al Shabaab's military operations spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab as saying they had been targeting "government officials and forces".
He added that there was a police station nearby.
Last Friday, a car bomb near a hotel and park in Mogadishu killed 14 people and three militants from al Shabaab.
No comments:
Post a Comment