Somalia:At least 230 dead in Mogadishu blasts

[Gefn]

A massive bomb attack in a busy area of the Somali capital Mogadishu on Saturday is now known to have killed at least 230 people , police say.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-41621660

[mountaineer]

...  It is not clear who staged the bombing, but Mogadishu is a target for al-Shabab militants battling the government.

BBC

[mountaineer]

Mogadishu truck bomb: 500 casualties in Somalia’s worst terrorist attack
At least 239 people killed and hundreds seriously injured in attack blamed on militant group al-Shabaab

Jason Burke Africa correspondent

Sunday 15 October 2017 14.21 EDT
First published on Sunday 15 October 2017 10.32 EDT

At least 500 people are believed to have been killed or seriously injured in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, in one of the most lethal terrorist acts anywhere in the world for many years.  ...

Rescue workers on the ground said it would be difficult to establish a definitive death toll because the intense heat generated by the blast meant the remains of many people would never be found. ...  The Guardian

[mountaineer]

Death toll now 276.

... No group has yet said it was behind the bombing.

But President Mohamed Abdullahi "Farmajo" Mohamed blamed al-Shabab, calling it a "heinous act".

Al-Shabab, which is allied to al-Qaeda, and which often attacks Mogadishu, normally claims them fairly quickly afterwards.  ...

BBC

[Suppressed]

Al-Shabab earlier this year vowed to step up attacks after both the Trump administration and Somalia’s recently elected president announced new military efforts against the group.

The Hindu