Saturday’s explosion is the single deadliest attack ever in the country, the Associated Press reported.
The massive explosion, which occurred outside the Safari Hotel, not far from the country’s foreign ministry, appears to have nearly leveled the entire hotel and badly damaged an entire city block. Photos from the aftermath show bodies strewn across the street while others show ordinary citizens rescuing those injured from the explosion.
Outside a Mogadishu hospital, victims and family members gathered, looking for their loved ones.
“There’s nothing I can say. We have lost everything,” said Zainab Sharif, crying as she sat outside of a local hospital, according to the AP. Doctors were unable to save her husband after an arterial injury.
The Somali government has blamed al-Shabab — an al-Qaeda–linked extremist group that has been waging an insurgency in the country since 2007 — for the explosion.
The country’s president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, has called for three days of mourning and has asked residents to donate blood and money for those injured.
This year, the US has increased the number of drone strikes against al-Shabab, which has been in a prolonged battle against the Somali military and African Union troops.
Talal Ansari is a reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York. His secure PGP fingerprint is 4FEE 894C 8088 7E08 E170 A515 2801 7CC6 95D3 11C2
Contact Talal Ansari at talal.ansari@buzzfeed.com.
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