A car bomb parked in front of a restaurant at a marketplace in Somalia’s capital took the life of 34 and injured another 52, reported a police officer.
The blast went off at a busy time with many shoppers and traders gathered at the market and the terroristic act is believed to be aimed at only killing civilians. Many of the injured victims died on their way to the hospitals and some of the bodies of the deceased were carried away by their relatives soon after the blast. Most of the people have shrapnel wounds or extensive third degree burns and some of the bodies are burned beyond recognition, as reported by Sabriye Abdullahi, an ambulance driver, to The Associated Press.
The district commissioner Ahmed Abdulle confirmed that someone has driven the car and parked it in front of the restaurant to explode at a time when the marketplace was packed with people.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility of the bombing but the attack bears the marks of Somalia’s Islamic extremists rebels, al-Shabab. Just a few hours before the explosion, al-Shabab denounced the new president as an “apostate” and vowed to continue fighting against his government. This is the first major attack in the capital after the election of Somalia’s new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on February 8. The president himself condemned the blast in a Twitter post.
