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Huge blast goes off in Somali capital Mogadishu; leaving several dead

Several casualties were reported following a huge explosion in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday claimed by al-Shabaab, a terror group based in the country. The attack was a suicide car bomb blast that took place on 21 October Road in the neighbourhood of Waberi, a police officer in Mogadishu told reporters.

Reuters MIDDLE EAST
Published January 12,2022
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Civilians look at the wrecked vehicles at the scene of an explosion [Reuters]

The explosion that went off on a street in the Somali capital Mogadishu earlier on Wednesday was from a car bomb and it killed at least eight people, the head of the city's ambulance services said.

"A car bomb targeted a convoy, including bulletproof cars using Avisione street, we do not who owns the convoy. We carried eight dead people from the scene," Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Aamin Ambulance service told Reuters.

"The attack was huge given the magnitude of the explosion and we fear the casualties may be high, but it is too early to say how many people were killed or wounded," Abdifatah Hassan, a police officer, told Anadolu Agency over the phone.

He said the police have not established who the target was.

Medical sources confirmed to Anadolu Agency that they have received at least five wounded civilians.

Al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist group al-Shabaab has already claimed responsibility for the attack.

Al-Shabaab was behind a 2017 truck bomb attack in Mogadishu that took some 600 lives, the worst attack in the Horn of Africa country's history.