SOMALIA: AL-SHABAAB CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR MOGADISHU EXPLOSION

Reports indicate that eight people were killed and over a dozen injured in a car bombing on Thursday morning near a school in Mogadishu, the Somalian capital, an attack claimed by Al-Shabaab jihadists in the troubled country.

Sources say a large explosion occurred in a busy part of Somalia’s capital during the morning rush hour. The blast near the K4 junction in the heart of Mogadishu triggered a plume of smoke. Eight people were reportedly killed while 17 sustained injuries while the bomb caused heavy damage to the school and vehicles parked nearby.. 

Terrorist group, Al-Shabaab, on Thursday claimed responsibility for the deadly attack. Their military operations spokesman, Abdiasis Abu Musab, told the newsmen that the explosion targeted a United Nations convoy protected by AMISOM forces.

The Al-Qaeda-linked group said it targeted Western officials being escorted by the African Union peacekeeping convoy.

Recall that Al-Shabaab has been fighting the Somalian central Government since 2007 to establish its own rule which is based on its strict interpretation of the Muslim sharia law.

The group also claimed two attacks in September that together killed 17 people.

A car bombing on September 25 near the presidential palace killed eight people, including the prime minister’s adviser for women and human rights, Hibaq Abukar.

Eleven days earlier, nine people, most of them members of Somalia’s security forces, died in a blast near a Mogadishu checkpoint.

Credit: Eons Intelligence