The death toll of two powerful bomb blasts carried out by al-Shabaab insurgents in the Somali…
The death toll of two powerful bomb blasts carried out by al-Shabaab insurgents in the Somali capital, Mogadishu rose to over 20 people, sources have said.
Several al-Shabaab gunmen detonated a car laden with explosives on Friday evening as they attempted to storm a hotel and garden close to the Presidential Palace. Guards at the hotel managed to push back the gunmen.
A source in Medina hospital, where over 30 wounded people were admitted to has told Horseed Media that eight people died due to serious injuries.
Most of the dead were civilians who went to spend the weekend at the popular Mogadishu Peace Garden.
It is the second time in a year that al-Shabaab militants have attacked SYL hotel which is home to Government officials and diplomats.
Somali intelligence officials have said that the explosives were of a higher grade than the ones the insurgency has used before. Several buildings and residential homes collapsed due to the magnitude of the bombs
The explosions could be heard across Mogadishu and a plume of smoke rose above the site of the blast.
Al Shabaab has been weakened considerably by African Union troops and the Somali army, losing swathes of territory in the south of the country, but it has been carrying hit-and-run style attacks to show it has not been vanquished. They have targeted hotels, the international airport, Villa Somalia, a United Nations compound and restaurants in a bid to discredit claims by the authorities and AU troops that they are winning the war.
In most of the attacks carried out by the militants in Mogadishu, the casualties of the civilians are higher than the government officials.
The latest attack in the Somali capital comes as the President, Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament are all out of the country.
Horseed Media
