People mill around the scene where a suicide attack took place in Somalia's capital Mogadishu. Source: AFP
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
"We are promising that attacks against the enemy will be routine, more in number and will increase day by day," Mr Rage said over radio Al-Andalu.
Earlier, the US and UN condemned the attack.
Witnesses described the carnage from Tuesday's attack as the worst they had seen in Mogadishu since Somalia plunged into chaos 20 years ago and said the devastation resembled scenes from World War II.
The suicide bomber rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the compound housing four ministries at a strategic crossroads, two months after the al-Qa'ida-linked rebels dismantled all their positions in the capital. Somali President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed also condemned the attack, in which he said many young students were killed.
"When the country is in the midst of a worsening humanitarian crisis, the enemy could not have attacked the Somali people at a worse time," he said.
The International Committee for the Red Cross said about 90 people had been taken to hospital.
Most of the casualties were reported to be civilians, with local residents saying the bomb went off near where students were queueing for scholarships offered by Turkey.
The US and UN were swift to join the condemnation. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton described the attack as a "cowardly act of terrorism" that "again demonstrates al-Shabab's complete disregard for human life and Somalia's future".
Source: AFP