At least 13 people have died and dozens injured in a car bomb explosion that took place at a busy security checkpoint in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Saturday morning reported Reuters.
According to witnesses, the blast occurred in a busy area prone to heavy traffic due to a security checkpoint and a taxation office.
Mogadishu Mayor Omar Muhamoud said the government confirmed at least 90 civilians, mostly students, had been injured in the explosion. The wounded people, including children, were rushed to nearby hospitals.
Notably, the government authorities have ordered medical personnel not to disclose figures as they have done in the past, and journalists are forbidden from going to attack sites.
“The blast was devastating, and I could confirm more than 20 civilians killed, there were many more wounded, but the toll can be higher,” police officer Ibrahim Mohamed said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab, which wants to topple the United Nations-backed government, has carried out similar attacks in the past.
The militant group was forced out of the Somali capital in 2011 but still controls parts of the countryside and has also staged attacks in neighboring Kenya. It controls parts of Somalia’s southern and central regions.
Earlier this month, five people were killed when al-Shabaab attacked a Mogadishu hotel popular with politicians, army officers and diplomats in an hours-long siege.
Al-Shabab was also blamed for a devastating truck bombing in Mogadishu in October 2017 that killed more than 500 people. The group never claimed responsibility for the blast.
The deadly attack comes at the time when Somalia is planning for 2020 polls. The country has been facing violent conflict since 1991 after clan warlords ousted dictator Siad Barre and then against each other.
