Hiiraan Online
Saturday October 14, 2017
Abukar Mohamed Daahiye/ PHOTO: COURTESY
Mogadishu (HOL) - A massive truck bomb ripped through a busy Mogadishu intersection on Saturday, killing at least 20 and wounding dozens more, according to local officials.
The vehicle, now widely believed to be a lorry, was being trailed by security forces as it raced through the Zoobe area in Hodan district before unleashing a ferocious bomb at the KM5 intersection that many residents say, was the loudest that they have heard in recent memory.
Residents report hearing an exchange of gunfire immediately after the assault as overwhelmed emergency crews and first responders rushed to the bomb site to assist the injured.
"There is destruction everywhere," said Ahmed Hussein Farah, a local resident and volunteer first responder, "we are pulling out arms, legs from beneath the rubble".
Among the dead is Abukar Mohamed Daahiye, who was the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce. Sadly, his brother, Yusuf Mohamed Dahiye, recently passed away in Beled Weyne just days ago.
Abdulkadir Haji Aden, the Director of Amin Ambulance Service said that his team is struggling to cope with the high death toll.
"This was a very horrible incident. The emergency team don't even know how many people they have collected because of the high number of the casualties"
An official at Aden Addee Hospital where many of the wounded have been transported told HOL that the death toll in today's massacre is likely to rise.
Liban Omar Sheikh, a bajaj (rickshaw) driver who nearly escaped with his life explained that he was leaving Banadir in the direction of KM4 roundabout, he was in bumper to bumper traffic at the Zoobe intersection before turning off to one of the side roads. Shortly after, he reports hearing a loud explosion and turned back towards the explosion.
He says that he believes it was a large car but can't say for sure the make or model of the car.
He described what he saw as "gut-wrenching".
"There are some people who are still clinging to life buried beneath the rubble of (collapsed) buildings, there are dead people who cannot be identified" ... "When I stand on Zoobe, I saw a stomach lying here, a head lying over there, an arm over here, a leg over there. This is something that my eyes can't even imagine."
He added that the extent of the injuries for some are so severe that he cannot tell if they are a male or female.
Although there is no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the modus operandi points to Al-Shabaab militants who frequently deploy suicide bombers to attack civilian and government installations.
The attack comes on the heels of the resignation of both the defense minister and the army chief.