SOMALIA : As many as 100 people were killed and more than 300 others were wounded in Somalia on Saturday after two car bombs exploded near the education ministry in the capital Mogadishu.
The two car bombs exploded near a busy intersection in the capital and near the Ministry of Education, according to an official with the president’s office, reported CNN.
Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in a video statement posted on his official Twitter account claimed that the Al-Shabaab terror group in Somalia was responsible for the deadly attack.
“Today’s cruel and cowardly terrorist attack on innocent people by the morally bankrupt and criminal Al-Shabaab group cannot discourage us but will further strengthen our resolve to defeat them once and for all,” Mohamud wrote on Twitter.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamist group Al-Shabaab has claimed other recent attacks, reported CNN.
“Our government and brave people will continue to defend Somalia against evil,” Mohamud added.
The intersection, Zobe junction, was the same location as a deadly bombing attack on October 14, 2017, which killed more than 500 people and injured around 300 others.
“By the will of God, no other October like this will happen. They won’t get the chance to commit such a thing,” Mohamud said, calling Saturday’s attack a repeat of the 2017 bombings.
The recent siege of an upscale hotel in the capital Mogadishu killing at least 20 people is a grave reminder of the security challenges the country is facing.
In 2022, there was a peaceful transition of power in Somalia after the successful completion of the legislative and presidential elections.
In recent years, despite international counter-terror measures, Al-Shabab has grown in strength, cashing in on the humanitarian crisis in Somalia and the security crises in neighbouring countries. (ANI)