At least 14 killed in Mogadishu car bombing
SUNDAY
FEBRUARY 19 2017
Civilians
and soldiers stand amongst scattered objects at the scene of a car bomb attack
near the Peace Hotel in Mogadishu on January 2, 2017. A car bomb killed at
least 14 people in Mogadishu on February 19, 2017. AFP PHOTO
By
AFP
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MOGADISHU
At
least 14 people were killed on Sunday when a car packed with explosives blew up
near a busy intersection in Mogadishu, officials and witnesses said.
"We
have counted about 14 people killed and more than 30 others wounded... the area
was a busy intersection alongside the road and there were many civilians when
the blast occurred," said local security official Mohamed Jilibey.
The
explosion is the first big attack in the Somali capital since the election of
new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed — nicknamed Farmajo — although several
mortar blasts claimed by Al-Shabaab Islamists marked the official handover of
power last week.
"The
death toll is very high, more than 10 people were confirmed dead and others are
wounded," said Dahir Ahmed, another official.
Witnesses
said the bombing targeted an intersection in southern Mogadishu's Madina
district where soldiers, civilians and traders were present.
"There
were many small scale traders alongside the road and teashops and restaurants.
There were also members of the security forces and shoppers and the blast was
so huge that it killed nearly 20 people, most of them civilians," said
witness Sumayo Moalim.
The
attack underlines the challenge facing the new president, who has inherited an
administration with limited control over Somali territory due to the presence
of Shabaab, and is heavily propped up by the international community.
AU
troops drove Shabaab militants out of Mogadishu in August 2011 but the
militants continue to control rural areas and launch repeated attacks in the
capital.
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