Somalia: 100 killed, over 300 injured in car bombings in Mogadishu

A hundred people were killed and over 300 injured after two car bombs exploded outside the education ministry in the Somalian capital Mogadishu on Saturday, Reuters reported.

The al-Shabab, an extremist group linked to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack.

It said that the ministry was an “enemy base” that receives support from non-Muslim countries and “is committed to removing Somali children from the Islamic faith”, reported the Associated Press.

According to the police, the second explosion took place when ambulances and bystanders reached the spot to help those injured in the initial blast.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who visited the blast site on Sunday, said that his people were massacred, according to Reuters.

“Our people who were massacred … included mothers with their children in their arms, fathers who had medical conditions, students who were sent to study, businessmen who were struggling with the lives of their families,” he said.

He also appealed to the international community to send medical help.

Since his election in May, Mohamud, with support from the United States and allied local militias, has launched an offensive against al-Shabab. However, the results have been limited.

Saturday’s attack came on a day when Mohamud and senior officials of his government were meeting to discuss extending the offensive against the group, according to the Associated Press.