Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Twin explosions, apparently caused by grenades, rocked the port city of Bosasso late Tuesday, an area that has become a magnet for migrant workers, many of whom seek to cross the Gulf of Aden to Yemen.
"We are very sorry to announce that 20 civilians, most of them Ethiopian citizens, have been killed and 80 others wounded, some of them seriously when violent people targeted them with heavy explosions near the seaport in Bosasso," said Bile Mohamoud Qabowsade, a spokesman for the information ministry in Puntland.
He added that the blasts occurred within "two minutes" of each other, razing "an entire neighborhood where the Ethiopian citizens lived."
Local staff put the number of wounded higher and described it as one of the worst attacks in Puntland, in northeastern Somalia.
"We received about 90 wounded people and so far some of them died in the hospital. It seems that the hospital had the busiest night and largest number of wounded people in a single incident," said Mohamed Yusuf from Bosasso's main hospital.
A witness told AFP that residents were horrified by the carnage left from the explosions.
"We got tired as we collected the charred bodies and seriously injured peple through the night," said Osman Sheik Weheliye.
Port employees said the area was overcrowded with Ethiopian refugees who were drinking tea and watching TV when the attacks occurred.
"We rushed to the scene but people were screaming and there was blood everywhere," said Farah Abdi, who works at the Bosasso seaport.
"Today we are burying the bodies of 20 people. Most of them were cut into pieces by the explosions," he said.
Local Bosasso elder Mohamed Abdulahi Diriye told AFP that the Ethiopian migrants were living in a sprawling settlement of shacks made of plastic and wood near the port.
Bosasso police commissioner Said Ga'amey said an investigation was under way. "We don't have anything clear that we can still say about this incident," he told AFP by telephone.
Puntland, which declared semi-autonomous status in 1998, has been relatively peaceful compared to Somalia, which has been wracked by violence since former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991.
Ethiopian troops are currently in Somalia, propping up the weak interim government that has been fighting the remnants of an Islamist militia that briefly controlled parts of the country in 2006.
Hundreds of migrants who flock to Puntland die each year while attempting the crossing to Yemen, either because their rickety boats capsize or as a result of exhaustion, disease or mistreatment by the smugglers.
Source: AFP, Feb 06, 2008