A woman walks down the street just after sunrise in Somalia's capital,
Mogadishu. A series of blasts late Sunday rocked the capital on August
4, 2013. PHOTO | AFP
Africa Review
Tuesday, August 06, 2013
At least 15 people were injured in a series of apparently coordinated blasts in the Somali capital Mogadishu late Sunday.
According to affected residents, at least 20 grenade attacks were carried out.
Medical sources confirmed that 15 people sustained injuries including government army officers and civilians.
After midnight, residents in Wardhigley District
in central Mogadishu, heard mortar shells landing around Mogadishu
Stadium, the city’s main playground that hosts units of the peacekeepers
serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).
"At least ten mortar shells fell in the area," a resident said.
Close to half of Mogadishu’s 17 districts were
affected by the shells and blasts in what many said was one of the most
terror-filled nights in the city in months.
The distressed districts include Hodon, Howlwadag, Wadajir, Dharkenlay, Wardhigley, Hamarweyne and Waberi.
Most of the grenade attacks occurred along the
major street that crossed the city, hitting such landmark places as
Afgoye, the former Somali National University compound, the city’s main
Khat market known as Beerta Khat-ka, Banadir Junction and Waberi Police
station.
Three explosions hit Hamarweyne district in
downtown Mogadishu, apparently targeting the central police station and
the district authority’s headquarters.
No group has claimed the assaults while the authority in the capital while the Amisom Command was yet to make a statement.
On Sunday, the commander of the police force, Gen
Abdihakim Sa’eed alias Saa’ed, held a press conference in Mogadishu,
vowing a crackdown on violence in the city.
Explosions and suicide missions are generally
claimed by Al-Shabaab, the radical Islamist group opposing the weak
Somali government.
The militant Al-Shabaab group has resorted to guerilla tactics after losing territory to AU troops and the Somali army.