Varying reports of toll after suicide attack claimed by al-Shabaab militant group

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

At least 16 people died early on Sunday in a suicide truck bombing outside the busy sea port of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, the director of the ambulance service said.



“We assisted 48 wounded people and carried 16 others who were killed in the blast,” said Abdikadir Abdirahman Adem, director of Mogadishu’s AMIN ambulance service.

Mogadishu residents described a huge blast that could be heard across the city and a plume of smoke that rose above the skyline.

A spokesman for the city adminstration, Abdifatah Omar Halane, confirmed the blast but gave a lower toll of “nearly 10” killed. He said investigations were under way. Other reports put the toll as high as 29.

The al-Qaida aligned al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility in a statement distributed on its Telegram messaging account.

It said the target was a military base close to the port.

Al-Shabaab is fighting to overthrow the internationally backed government of Somalia and regularly stages deadly attacks on government, military and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere in the wartorn country.

The attack took place close to the entrance to Mogadishu’s port.

“The bomber targeted a civilian area, there were porters and other small scale traders in the area when the blast occurred,” said Ibrahim Mohamed, a senior police officer.

The attack comes as Somalia is in the process of electing a new government, with the much-delayed presidential vote due on 28 December.