Rescue official: Truck bomb in Somalia
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – Islamist militants detonated a truck bomb Tuesday in front of the Ministry of Education in Mogadishu, killing at least 70 people, wounding dozens and shattering a relative calm that had prevailed in the Somali capital for weeks.
Al-Qaida-linked militants launched their deadliest single bomb attack ever in Somalia on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people and demonstrating how the group that blocked aid to famine victims can still mount devastating violence even after most of its fighters fled the capital in August.
A truck loaded with drums of fuel exploded outside the Ministry of Education, where students accompanied by their parents registered for scholarships offered by the Turkish government. The thunderous blast covered the city in dust more than half-mile away, leaving blackened corpses sprawled on the debris-strewn street amid burning vehicles. One woman used a blue plastic bucket to pour water on a smoldering body.
Even in a city mired in war and anarchy for two decades, Tuesday's attack by the al-Shabab group horrified rescue workers. Ali Abdullahi, a nurse at the city's Medina Hospital, said countless victims were being brought in with amputated limbs and burns.
"It is the most awful tragedy I have ever seen," he said. "Imagine dozens are being brought here minute by minute. Most of the wounded people are unconscious and others have their faces blackened by smoke and heat."
"They killed him before he started university! Why was he killed? Damn to al-Shabab," she said.
Al-Shabab, which was formed about five years ago, immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on a website it uses.
"Our Mujahideen fighters have entered a place where ministers and AMISOM foreigners stay," al-Shabab said in a brief post on a website, referring to the Ugandan and Burundian forces who make up the African Union peacekeeping mission.
The attack took place on one of the busiest streets in the capital, and it was not clear whether the Ministry of Education was the intended target.
Two years ago, al-Shabab was blamed for a devastating attack on a graduation ceremony that killed 24 people, including three government ministers, medical students and doctors.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is "appalled" by the "incomprehensible" attack, which came as local leaders are trying "to chart a peaceful political future for Somalia."
The secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, condemned what he called a "heinous" attack on civilians.
Ali Muse, the chief of Mogadishu's ambulance service, told The Associated Press that at least 70 people had been killed Tuesday and at least 42 others were wounded.
"The explosion has not only affected the targeted place, but even passer-by people and car passengers died there. The death toll may increase and we are still carrying many dead bodies," he said. "It is the worst tragedy I have ever seen in the capital."
Of its gunmen in August amid an offensive by African Union forces.
A truck loaded with drums of fuel exploded outside the Ministry of Education, where students accompanied by their parents registered for scholarships offered by the Turkish government. The thunderous blast covered the city in dust more than half-mile away, leaving blackened corpses sprawled on the debris-strewn street amid burning vehicles. One woman used a blue plastic bucket to pour water on a smoldering body.
Even in a city mired in war and anarchy for two decades, Tuesday's attack by the al-Shabab group horrified rescue workers. Ali Abdullahi, a nurse at the city's Medina Hospital, said countless victims were being brought in with amputated limbs and burns.
"It is the most awful tragedy I have ever seen," he said. "Imagine dozens are being brought here minute by minute. Most of the wounded people are unconscious and others have their faces blackened by smoke and heat."
"They killed him before he started university! Why was he killed? Damn to al-Shabab," she said.
Al-Shabab, which was formed about five years ago, immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on a website it uses.
"Our Mujahideen fighters have entered a place where ministers and AMISOM foreigners stay," al-Shabab said in a brief post on a website, referring to the Ugandan and Burundian forces who make up the African Union peacekeeping mission.
The attack took place on one of the busiest streets in the capital, and it was not clear whether the Ministry of Education was the intended target.
Two years ago, al-Shabab was blamed for a devastating attack on a graduation ceremony that killed 24 people, including three government ministers, medical students and doctors.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he is "appalled" by the "incomprehensible" attack, which came as local leaders are trying "to chart a peaceful political future for Somalia."
The secretary general of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation, Prof. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, condemned what he called a "heinous" attack on civilians.
Ali Muse, the chief of Mogadishu's ambulance service, told The Associated Press that at least 70 people had been killed Tuesday and at least 42 others were wounded.
"The explosion has not only affected the targeted place, but even passer-by people and car passengers died there. The death toll may increase and we are still carrying many dead bodies," he said. "It is the worst tragedy I have ever seen in the capital."
Of its gunmen in August amid an offensive by African Union forces.
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