Wednesday February 7, 2024
At least 10 people were killed on Tuesday in a crowded market in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, after multiple blasts.
The incident happened within the Bakara market in the city, sources told Al Jazeera.
Three nurses at Erdogan Hospital in Mogadishu told Reuters that more than 20 injured people had been brought to the facility.
Mohamed Ali, a businessman within the market who said he helped carry dead and wounded people from some of the shops, told Al Jazeera: “We heard four huge explosions erupt inside four well-known electronic shops and we were shocked. We’ve seen so many people crying inside shops.”
Somali police have said investigations are under way.
The cause of the blasts was not immediately clear, although the al-Qaeda affiliated group al-Shabab routinely carries out bombings in high-density areas across the country.
Al-Shabab has been battling Somalia’s federal government and an African Union (AU)-mandated peacekeeping force for years, seeking to establish a new government based on its interpretation of Islamic law.
Bakara, Mogadishu’s largest market, teems with traders and is where most residents buy their food, clothes, medicine, electronics, and other items daily.
This is a developing story. More details to come.