Dozens feared dead in Mogadishu car bomb

MOGADISHU - A car bomb exploded near a busy market in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Saturday killing at least eight people, police said, as medical sources warned the toll could be far higher.

"We have counted about eight civilians so far who were killed in the blast and more than 10 others wounded but the death toll could be higher because the area is a market and it was so densely populated when the blast occurred, most people who were wounded have serious injuries," said police official Ibrahim Mohamed.

Medical sources suggested nearly 30 people had been killed, but this was not confirmed by authorities.

"Our ambulances have collected 13 wounded civilians and 28 dead bodies, the toll could be higher because of the density of the location where the blast occurred," Dr Abdukadir Abdirahman Adem, director of the AMIN ambulance service told AFP.

The blast took place in the densely populated Afisiyone area in southern Mogadishu.

"There was chaos and severed dead bodies strewn around the street, the market was so busy with people shopping when the blast ripped through the area. I saw many dead bodies but I could not count, I have helped collect more than 10 of them," said Abdulahi Osman, who witnessed the blast.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack, but immediate suspicion fell on the Al-Qaeda linked Islamist group Shabaab, locked in battle against the Somali government and which regularly mounts attacks in the city.

Its most deadly recent attack was in August when a car bomb outside a popular hotel close to the presidential palace left 15 dead.

Despite being driven out of the capital in 2011 by an African Union force deployed in 2007 the group still control vast swathes of outlying rural areas from which they launch guerrilla operations.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Several dead in Somalia hotel attack

At least 15 people died when jihadists exploded a suicide car bomb outside a popular hotel close to the presidential palace in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, police said Wednesday, updating an earlier toll.

"The number of the people who died in the blast reached 15 and 45 others were wounded, most of them lightly," said Mogadishu police chief Bishar Abshir Gedi.

He said civilians and security forces were among the dead in Tuesday's attack.

Several journalists who were at the hotel at the time of the attack were injured.

A vehicle rammed through a checkpoint on Tuesday and was fired on by security forces before it exploded outside the SYL hotel.

An earlier toll stood at five killed and 28 injured.

The hotel is situated close to the main entrance to the Villa Somalia government complex that includes the presidential palace, ministry buildings and residences.

A witness described seeing a large blast and a thick plume of smoke that rose high into the air.

"I saw a car speeding towards the area and huge smoke and fire went up in the sky," said Elmi Ahmed.

The explosion left a scene of widespread damage with a crater in the road, buildings damaged, nearby walls collapsed and debris scattered across the usually busy carriageway.

The Al-Qaeda aligned Shabaab jihadist group said it was responsible for the attack.

The fortified hotel, popular with government officials, business people and visiting diplomats and delegations, was previously attacked in both February this year and January last year.

Last week gunmen detonated a bomb outside a beachside restaurant before storming inside and killing at least seven people.

The jihadists have also staged repeated attacks in neighbouring Kenya and a recent security analysis warned the group was expanding its horizons with cells active in Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda as well as Somalia.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com