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Somalia twin suicide bombings kill at least seven: police
MOGADISHU, Oct 13, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – At least seven people have been killed
in southwest Somalia, after suicide bombers targeted a restaurant and coffee
shop, police said Saturday.
“The first blast was targeting a restaurant near the main city roundabout
where the information we are getting indicates a suicide bomber detonated
himself, seven people were killed and more than ten others wounded,” said
Muktar Adan, a police official in the provincial capital of Baidoa where the
blasts took place.
“The second blast presumably carried out by another suicide bomber wearing
explosives targeted a coffee shop along densely populated street, we don’t
have the casualty numbers, but we assume several were killed in the second
blast as well,” he said by phone.
Witnesses said blasts occurred within a few minutes from each other.
“It looks that these attacks were organised in a way to inflict many
civilian casualties because of the targets the bombers have selected,” said
witness Abdifatah Mohamed
“I saw eight dead bodies of civilians being carried from the scene of the
first blast and there are several ambulances collecting dead and wounded
victims from the scene of the second blast, we don’t have the exact number of
the casualty so far,” said another witness Adaf Sheik.
The blasts came a day before the first anniversary of a truck bombing that
left more than 500 dead in Mogadishu, the worst ever attack in Somalia which
was blamed on Islamist group Al-Shabaab.
Shabaab, an Al-Qaeda affiliate, is fighting to overthrow the
internationally backed Somali government in Mogadishu.
The Shabaab were forced out of the capital by African Union troops in 2011
but still control parts of the countryside and carry out attacks against
government, military and civilian targets seemingly at will in Mogadishu and
regional towns.
BSS/AFP/FI/ 2305 hrs