11/5/2024
Today from Hiiraan Online:  _
advertisements
At least 15 hurt in late night Mogadishu blasts


A woman walks down the street just after sunrise in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. A series of blasts late Sunday rocked the capital on August 4, 2013. PHOTO | AFP 


Africa Review
Tuesday, August 06, 2013

At least 15 people were injured in a series of apparently coordinated blasts in the Somali capital Mogadishu late Sunday.

According to affected residents, at least 20 grenade attacks were carried out.

Medical sources confirmed that 15 people sustained injuries including government army officers and civilians.

After midnight, residents in Wardhigley District in central Mogadishu, heard mortar shells landing around Mogadishu Stadium, the city’s main playground that hosts units of the peacekeepers serving with the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom).

"At least ten mortar shells fell in the area," a resident said.

Close to half of Mogadishu’s 17 districts were affected by the shells and blasts in what many said was one of the most terror-filled nights in the city in months.

The distressed districts include Hodon, Howlwadag, Wadajir, Dharkenlay, Wardhigley, Hamarweyne and Waberi.

Landmarks

Most of the grenade attacks occurred along the major street that crossed the city, hitting such landmark places as Afgoye, the former Somali National University compound, the city’s main Khat market known as Beerta Khat-ka, Banadir Junction and Waberi Police station.

Three explosions hit Hamarweyne district in downtown Mogadishu, apparently targeting the central police station and the district authority’s headquarters.

No group has claimed the assaults while the authority in the capital while the Amisom Command was yet to make a statement.

On Sunday, the commander of the police force, Gen Abdihakim Sa’eed alias Saa’ed, held a press conference in Mogadishu, vowing a crackdown on violence in the city.

Explosions and suicide missions are generally claimed by Al-Shabaab, the radical Islamist group opposing the weak Somali government.

The militant Al-Shabaab group has resorted to guerilla tactics after losing territory to AU troops and the Somali army.



 





Click here