Car bomb kills 10 in Somali capital
Mogadishu, Apr 28 (EFE).- At least 10 people were killed Wednesday in a car-bomb attack on a police garrison in Mogadishu, a member of the Somali security forces told Efe.
“The car crashed into the main entrance of the compound and exploded, killing 10 people, including seven policemen and three civilians,” police officer Suleiman Nur said from the scene.
Thirteen others were injured, he added.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the blast, which came hours after the car’s driver tried unsuccessfully to enter the police compound, located near the busy Ex-Control Junction.
The attack came on the same day that the United Nations acting humanitarian coordinator for Somalia said that clashes between supporters of different political factions had forced between 60,000 and 100,000 people to flee their homes in the Somali capital.
“Apart from displacing innocent civilians, the initial violence has created uncertainty and fear of disruptions of humanitarian assistance to hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people across the city,” Cesar Arroyo said in a statement.
The clashes erupted after President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo extended his term by two years on April 12.
The move violated an agreement he signed with regional leaders last Sept. 17 and was condemned by the opposition and foreign powers.
In announcing the term extension, Farmajo also urged a return to negotiations after a pact that called for elections in February fell apart.
Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble made an appeal Wednesday for people to return to their homes in Mogadishu, saying that the government was “committed to bringing peace and stability” to Somalis.
Though nominally under the control of the Somali government, Mogadishu is a frequent target for attacks by Al-Shabab, which holds rural areas in the central and southern part of the war-ravaged African nation.
Al-Shabab, an affiliate of al-Qaeda, aims to expel all foreign forces from Somalia and establish a strict Islamic state.
Somalia has been in a state of upheaval since 1991, when the toppling of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre left the country without an effective government and vulnerable to Islamic militants, warlords and criminal groups. EFE
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