Civilians gather near the ruins of a building at the scene of an explosion along K5 street in Mogadishu, Somalia, October 30 2022. Picture: ABDIRAHMAN HUSSEIN/ REUTERS
Saturday’s attack was the deadliest since a truck bomb exploded at the same intersection in October 2017, killing more than 500 people. The chair of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, condemned the attack and urged the international community to “redouble its efforts to ensure robust international support to Somalia’s institutions in their struggle to defeat terrorist groups”.
The president said some of the wounded were in a serious condition and the death toll could rise. “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,” he said after visiting the scene.