New Delhi: At least 100 people have been killed in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu and 300 were injured after two car bombs detonated in a busy intersection near the education ministry, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said on Sunday.
"So far, people who died have reached 100 and 300 are wounded, and the number for both the dead and wounded continues to increase," he said after visiting the bombing location, AFP reported.
According to the report, two cars filled with explosives blew up minutes apart near the Zobe junction in the afternoon shattering windows and sending shrapnel flying.
The first explosion hit the education ministry, second was moments after the ambulances arrived and people rushed to help victims, according to news agency Reuters. Windows around the vicinity were smashed by the impact and blood covered the tarmac outside the ministry building.
"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," President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said.
Authorities Suspect Involvement Of Islamist Group al Shabaab
While nobody claimed responsibility for the attack, authorities said the Islamist group al Shabaab was behind it. They said the group had targeted the education ministry, an intersection, and a school, Reuters reported. The Islamist group avoids claiming responsibility for attacks that results in a large number of casualties.
"At 2:00 p.m. al-Shabaab terrorists carried out two explosions targeting civilians, including children, women and the elderly," police spokesman Sadiq Doodishe said, as per Reuters.
A similar attack took place at the same place on October 14, 2017, when 512 people were killed and more than 290 were injured after a truck full of explosives blew up.
According to AFP, Mohamud described the incident as "history", saying "it is the same place, and the same innocent people involved".
"This is not right. God willing, they will not be having the ability to do another Zobe incident," he said, referring to the Islamist group Al-Shabaab.
The jihadists have been seeking to overthrow the fragile foreign-backed government in Mogadishu for about 15 years, AFP reported.
The fighters were driven out of the capital in 2011 by an African Union force but the group still controls swathes of the countryside and continues to wage deadly strikes on civilian and military targets.
(With agency inputs)