Al-Shabaab terrorists kill at least 70 in Mogadishu blast

The attack showed how a group that blocked aid to famine victims could still mount devastating violence even after most of its fighters fled the capital in August.

A lorry loaded with fuel drums exploded outside the ministry of education, where students and their parents registered for scholarships offered by the Turkish government.

The blast covered the city in dust more than half a mile away, leaving blackened corpses on the debris-strewn street amid burning vehicles. One woman used a blue plastic bucket to pour water on a smouldering body.

Even in a city mired in war and anarchy for two decades, the attack by the al-Shabaab militants horrified rescue workers. Ali Abdullahi, a nurse at the city’s Medina Hospital, said countless victims lost limbs and suffered burns.

“It is the most awful tragedy I have ever seen,” he said. “Dozens are being brought here minute by minute. Most of the wounded people are unconscious and others have their faces blackened by smoke and heat.”

Duniya Salad sobbed over her brother’s burnt body after he died while undergoing treatment at the hospital.

“They killed him before he started university. Damn to al-Shabaab,” she said.

Al-Shabaab, which was formed about five years ago, immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on a website it uses.

“Our Mujahideen fighters have entered a place where ministers and AMISOM [African Union Mission in Somalia] foreigners stay,” the group said in a post, referring to the Ugandan and Burundian forces from the AU mission.

Two years ago, al-Shabaab was blamed for a devastating attack on a graduation ceremony that killed 24 people, including three government ministers, medical students and doctors.

Ali Muse, the chief of Mogadishu’s ambulance service, said at least 70 people had been killed and at least 42 wounded.

“The explosion has not only affected the targeted place, but even passer-by people and car passengers died there. The death toll may increase and we are still carrying many dead bodies” he said. “It is the worst tragedy I have ever seen in the capital.”

The government said most of the casualties were students and parents waiting for results of scholarships at the ministry. “The attack shows the danger from terrorists is not yet over and that there are still people who want to derail the advances that the Somali people have made toward peace,” it said.

The UN Special Representative for Somalia, Augustine Mahiga, had earlier warned that al-Shabaab would resort to guerrilla-style attacks following its withdrawal from Mogadishu.

“It is very difficult to prevent these types of terrorist attacks which we have consistently warned are likely to be on the increase,” Mr Mahiga said.

Suicide bombings were unheard of in Somalia before 2007 but have become increasingly frequent. Al-Shabaab claims allegiance to al-Qaeda, which often uses car bombs and appears bent on gaining a greater foothold in the Horn of Africa.

Al-Shabaab includes militant veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts who have trained Somalis in tactics such as suicide bombs and sniper fire.

Until recently al-Shabaab hosted Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, al-Qaeda’s top operative in East Africa, who was killed by a soldier at a checkpoint in Mogadishu in June. Al-Shabaab carried out a double suicide bombing in Uganda last year that killed 76 people watching the World Cup final on TV.