The number of people who perished in the triple terrorist attacks in Mogadishu on Friday has risen to 50 while 58 others are nursing injuries in various city hospitals, police and medical sources said on Saturday. “More bodies were found under the rubble and the death toll now stands at 50 people. We don’t know if there are other people still under the rubble but we are trying our best to recover those missing,” a police officer who requested anonymity told Xinhua. The city’s main hospital Madina received majority of the dead and injured from the blasts which rocked the central business district area Friday. “We received 32 injured people while several others including the dead were booked in other hospitals,” said Mohamed Yusuf, director of Madina Hospital. Three huge blasts went off around KM 4 Junction Friday afternoon which the militant group al-Shabab said was targeting Sahafi hotel which is popular with politicians and was once a safe haven for journalists covering the Somali civil war.
The owner of the Sahafi hotel identified as Abdifatah Abdirashid was among those killed. Abdirashid had inherited the hotel from his father who was killed in a similar attack in 2015.
Pictures from the scene showed mangled wrecks of vehicles which were plying the route.
The UN and other foreign countries have condemned the attacks which came barely a month after Somalia marked one year since the October 14, 2017 truck bombing which claimed over 500 lives.
Meanwhile, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has condemned the bombings on Sahafi Hotel and CID headquarters in the restive capital, Mogadishu.
In a statement issued in Mogadishu on Saturday, the AU mission vowed to intensify its joint operations with the Somali government to degrade terrorists and other militant groups.
“AMISOM also calls on the public to remain vigilant and work with the security forces in preventing future senseless attacks by terrorists and restoring lasting peace in Somalia,” it said.
The AU mission which has intensified its onslaught against the militants also sent its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved and wished the wounded a speedy recovery.Suicide attackers set off two car bombs at a hotel in Mogadishu on Friday, killing at least 39 people, police said.
The owner of the Sahafi hotel identified as Abdifatah Abdirashid was among those killed. Abdirashid had inherited the hotel from his father who was killed in a similar attack in 2015.
Pictures from the scene showed mangled wrecks of vehicles which were plying the route.
The UN and other foreign countries have condemned the attacks which came barely a month after Somalia marked one year since the October 14, 2017 truck bombing which claimed over 500 lives.
Meanwhile, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) has condemned the bombings on Sahafi Hotel and CID headquarters in the restive capital, Mogadishu.
In a statement issued in Mogadishu on Saturday, the AU mission vowed to intensify its joint operations with the Somali government to degrade terrorists and other militant groups.
“AMISOM also calls on the public to remain vigilant and work with the security forces in preventing future senseless attacks by terrorists and restoring lasting peace in Somalia,” it said.
The AU mission which has intensified its onslaught against the militants also sent its heartfelt condolences to the bereaved and wished the wounded a speedy recovery.Suicide attackers set off two car bombs at a hotel in Mogadishu on Friday, killing at least 39 people, police said.
Previous reports had indicated 29 fatalities from the attack, but police confirmed a total of 39 civilians died with 40 others injured.
The militant extremist group Al-Shabab, linked to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack on the Hotel Sahafi, which is near the headquarters of Somalia’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID).
Hotel guards and CID officers opened fire after the blasts, police added. Then, about 20 minutes later, a third explosion from a bomb placed in a three-wheeled “tuk-tuk” vehicle near the hotel hit the busy street, witnesses said.
Some of the victims were burned beyond recognition when one car bomb exploded next to a minibus, said a police official
“Two other militants were suicide car bombers who were blown up by their car bombs. The third car was remotely detonated. So in total 28 people died, including the six militants.”
Abdifatah Abdirashid, who took over the Sahafi from his father after he was killed in a militant attack in 2015, was among those who died in Friday’s attack, said Mohamed Abdiqani, a witness at the hotel.
“The militants who entered the hotel compound faced heavy gunfire from the hotel guards. Abdifatah Abdirashid, the hotel owner, and three of his bodyguards died,” Abdiqani said.
“Although they failed to access the hotel, the blasts outside the hotel killed many people,” the police official said.
