Hiiraan Online
Monday February 20, 2017
President Farmajo visiting a young victim from a truck bomb attack on a crowded market. COURTESY TWITTER (@M_Farmaajo)
Mogadishu (HOL) - After visiting victims of yesterday’s car bomb in the hospital yesterday, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo announced that the government would cover all medical expenses for the victims.
Yesterday afternoon, A truck bomb detonated at a busy intersection in Mogadishu’s Wadajir district ripped through Kawa-Godey market just after Dhuhr prayers. The death toll has since climbed to 39.
“I want to say as the president of the nation, the government will pay the health care of the wounded people in the barbaric attack and bereaved families will be helped constantly,” said president Farmaajo who visited the victims at Madina Hospital.
President Farmajo, the UN and dozens of Somali civic organizations have condemned the bombing.
President Farmajo also announced that his government is offering USD$100,000 as a reward for anybody who provides information leading authorities to car bomb plots, something that he mentioned during his campaign. Although he did not elaborate on how it would be funded, during his campaign he said that USD $1 million would be set aside monthly to fund the endeavour.
Although there has been no formal claim of responsibility, there is little doubt that Al-Shabaab - a militant insurgency group battling the government and its allies - is behind the attack. The group has denounced the new government and it’s leader as an “American puppet” and has vowed to continue fighting the Somali government and the AU.