At least 100 killed and 300 injured as Somalia’s capital hit by two explosions

Events in Sandton South Africa seem to have passed off safely yesterday. The other terror alert was for Abuja, Nigeria feared for the same time; today churches are open for worship as usual but with increased security and surveilance.   But while there were fears for West Africa and South Africa, yesterday’s carnage was in East Africa. 

From Sky News

At least 100 people have been killed and 300 injured after two explosions rocked the capital of Somalia in what appears to be an ongoing attack on the country’s education ministry.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud confirmed the death toll in a statement on Sunday as he visited the site of the blasts outside the education ministry in Mogadishu. “Our people who were massacred… included mothers with their children in their arms, fathers who had medical conditions, students who were sent to study, businessmen who were struggling with the lives of their families,” he said.

Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the explosions at Zobe junction, which are understood to have been caused by car bombs. The first of the explosions struck the education ministry near a busy junction in Mogadishu, while the second occurred as ambulances attended the scene and people gathered to help the victims.

State news agency, SONNA, said the blasts had caused “scores of civilian casualties, including independent journalist Mohamed Isse Kona”. Reuters reported that witnesses had seen windows blown out of nearby buildings, and burnt out ambulances that were destroyed in the second blast.

Al Shabaab often targets the capital with attacks on high-profile locations that begin with explosions and continue with gunmen entering and battling security teams. The group emerged as the radical wing of Somalia’s Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which no longer exists, and declared allegiance to al Qaeda in 2012. Somalia’s government is engaged in a new offensive against the extremist group, which has been described by the US as of one of al Qaeda’s deadliest affiliates.