Two car bombs exploded on Saturday in a busy area outside the Somali Ministry of Education, leaving at least 100 people dead and 300 injured, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said.
On Sunday morning, emergency teams were still cleaning the area affected by the attack, where a busy street market is operating, with people buying and selling food, drinks and clothing.
The attack was the biggest since a truck bomb exploded at the same intersection in October 2017, killing more than 500 people.
No one claimed responsibility for the act, but the president accuses the Somali faction Al Shabaab, linked to Al Qaeda.
African Union Commission Chair Moussa Faki Mahamat condemned the attack and called on the international community to redouble “efforts to ensure robust international support for Somali institutions in their fight to defeat terrorist groups”.
The first of the blasts hit the Ministry of Education region on Saturday around 2pm (local time). The second, when ambulances and other people arrived to help victims.
The Somali president said many of the wounded were in serious condition and the death toll was likely to rise.
“Our people were massacred … including mothers who were with their children, fathers, students, business owners,” Mohamud said.
The Al Shabaab group struggles to establish its own government based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law. It also seeks to end a Western-backed government that maintains agreements with the African Union.
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