A blast at a busy market in the western part of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu killed at least 20 people and wounded 50 others.
A police officer, Capt. Mohamed Hussein, said the powerful blast thought to be from a car bomb tore through shops and food stands in Mogadishu’s Madina district on Sunday.
Kawo Godey is a small but busy market with shops and food stands.
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Ahmed Mohamed, a witness, said he saw severed limbs and blood scattered across the market. “Bodies were piled on top of each other.” he said by phone as ambulance sirens echoed from the background.
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the blast. However, Somalia’s home-grown Islamic extremist rebel group, Al-Shabab, often carries out such attacks.
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Despite being ousted from large parts of south and central Somalia, Al-Shabab continues to carry out guerilla attacks in this ‘Horn of Africa’ nation.
Blame it on the President
An Al-Shabab rebel commander denounced the country’s recent election of a new President and vowed to continue fighting the government, the first official comment from al-Shabab since the President’s election earlier this month.
In an audio message released by al-Shabab’s radio arm Sunday, Sheikh Hassan Yaqub, a senior commander of the extremist group, called new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed an “apostate” and warned Somalis against supporting him. Mr. Mohamed, who holds both Somali and U.S. citizenship, was elected on February 8.
The Al-Shabab leader also referred the new President as “evil-minded,” recalling his eight-month tenure as the prime minister of Somalia in 2010 and 2011, during which the extremists lost control of Mogadishu.
“Remember how much harm he inflicted upon Muslims during his time as Prime Minister,” said Yaqub.