At least 17 people are reported dead following a bomb blast outside a hotel near the international airport in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
The blast on Monday according to medical officials also left 27 others wounded.
The city’s Madina hospital is where most of the bodies and those injured were taken to.
The Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Al-shabab is known for carrying out deadly attacks in Somalia and eastern part of Africa.
Al-Shabaab’s deadly suicide car bomb in Mogadishu comes just 4 days after the killing of the militant group’s domestic intel chief Mohamed Nur Ikhlaas. According to Security sources, Ikhlaas was killed in airstrike near Kunyo Barrow on Thursday night along with 2 others. pic.twitter.com/ntOXsKogN0
— Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) July 22, 2019
The militants are fighting to overthrow the UN-backed government in Somalia considered very week.
The group impose its own strict interpretation of Islamic law.
More scenes from the aftermath of the blast today in #Mogadishu. I’m told nine killed and 32 wounded. This video via Mohamed Bulbul. #Somalia pic.twitter.com/srOLXwxEUV
— Amanda Sperber (@hysperbole) July 22, 2019
But it has lost control of many towns and cities to a 22,000-strong African Union force supporting the government.
Source: Africafeeds.com