At Least 20 Reportedly Killed In Mogadishu Car Bombing

By Andah John with agency report

No fewer than 20 people were killed on Sunday when a car loaded with explosives blew up close to a busy intersection in Mogadishu, officials and witnesses said.

“A suicide car bomber blew himself up inside this market at a busy time, killing at least 20 people and many others were also injured,” said Ahmed Abdulle Afrah, the district commissioner of Mogadshu’s Wadajir district.

Witnesses were reported to have said the bombing targeted an intersection in the area in southern Mogadishu 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.

A local security official was earlier reported to have said that at least 14 people had been killed and some 30 wounded. Final death tolls in such attacks in Somalia are often difficult to establish.

The explosion is the first big attack in the Somali capital since the election of new President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed.

The latest 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.