News / Somalia

30 people killed in deadly twin bombings in Somalia

Monday, 29 February 2016 7:32 AM [ Last Update: Monday, 29 February 2016 7:31 AM ]

This photo shows the site of a car bomb attack in the center of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on February 27, 2016. (AFP photo)

The casualty figures of twin bomb attacks by al-Shabab militants at a busy junction and restaurant in Somalia have risen to at least 30 people dead and about 40 others injured.

A bomber blew up his explosive-laden car at a junction in the capital Mogadishu on Sunday. Another bomb also struck a restaurant in the northwestern town of Baidoa, a key center in the African Union’s fight against the terror group.

“The restaurant and the junction were very busy,” Police Major Bilow Nurr said.

According to a hospital official, many of the bodies the hospital received were charred beyond recognition.

Al-shabab claimed responsibility for the attacks, saying, “We targeted government officials and forces.”

The group carried out another attack in Mogadishu on Friday. The bomb attack hit a hotel and a nearby public garden, killing 14 people and injuring over 25 others.

Al-Shabab militants launch regular attacks in the Somali capital and elsewhere across the Horn of African country, targeting African Union troops, government officials and foreigners.

The country has been the scene of deadly clashes between government forces and the Takfiri militants since 2006.

The militants have been pushed out of Mogadishu and other major cities by government forces and the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), which is largely made up of troops from Ethiopia, Uganda, Burundi, Djibouti, Sierra Leone and Kenya.

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