Somalia: At least 10 killed in Mogadishu explosions, gunfire

Editor | November 9, 2018 | اخبار العالم | No Comments

At least 20 people have been killed and 17 injured in explosions followed by heavy gunfire in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, according to police.

Plumes of smoke billowed into the air on Friday as at least two car bombs went off near the popular Sahafi Hotel and the Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

Initially, “two blasts struck the perimeter of the Sahafi Hotel along the main road,” Ibrahim Mohamed, police official, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.

A third explosion later hit the busy street, according to witnesses.

Although the attackers “failed to access the hotel, the blasts outside the hotel killed many people,” police captain Mohamed Hussein told the Associated Press news agency.

Double explosion rocks #Mogadishu, heavy gunfire near the CID Headquarters and Sahafi Hotel. #Somalia pic.twitter.com/l6qJVIu3pV

— Abdulaziz Billow Ali (@AbdulBillowAli) November 9, 2018

“I’ve pulled many dead bodies from the cars,” Mohamed Aden, a witness of the attack, told Al Jazeera in Mogadishu. “The number of casualties is unknown as bodies are still being pulled from the burning cars”.

Some of the victims were burned beyond recognition when one car bomb exploded next to a minibus, Mohamed Hussein, a police captain, told The Associated Press news agency.

“The street was crowded with people and cars, bodies were everywhere,” said Hussein Nur, a shopkeeper who suffered light shrapnel injuries on his right hand.

“Gunfire killed several people too.”

Another police captain, Mohamed Ahmed, was quoted by Reuters news agency as saying 22 civilians were killed, along with six of the attackers.

“So in total 28 people died,” Ahmed said.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, according to the armed group’s Adalus radio station.