SOMALIA: Mogadishu bombings death toll: Medics and rescuers confirm over 200 killed

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SOMALIA: Mogadishu bombings death toll: Medics and rescuers confirm over 200 killed

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) The death toll from the twin car bombings in Mogadishu on Saturday rose to more than 200 and more than 350 injuries, according to medical sources and rescuers who spoke to Horn Observer and after more bodies were recovered f

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The aftermath of twin car bombings in Mogadishu's Zoobe [km5] junction.

MOGADISHU (HORN OBSERVER) The death toll from the twin car bombings in Mogadishu on Saturday rose to more than 200 and more than 350 injuries, according to medical sources and rescuers who spoke to Horn Observer and after more bodies were recovered from the rubble of the buildings on Sunday.

The two car bombs exploded at the busy KM5 [Zoobe] junction in Somalia’s capital near key government buildings, as reported by the national police. The first explosion hit the parameter wall of the ministry of higher education at 14:20pm local time before a second suicide car targeted the paramedics, police and journalists who rushed to the scene.

Doctors and nurses at the Madina hospital, one of the few government-run facilities, confirmed to have received 75 bodies from the as of Saturday evening. Nurses at Digfer, or [Erdogan as referred by Somalis] hospital said they received 107 dead bodies from the bombings. One nurse at the emergency department said 280 injuries were also admitted forcing nurses and doctors to remain on duty for more than 24 hours now.

Three other hospitals - Kalkaal, Daru Shifa and Somali Sudanese - have also said to have received a total of 36 bodies.

Rescuers working on the the destroyed buildings said they got five new bodies on Sunday morning.

President Hassan Sheikh's figures

Speaking to the camera at the scene of the attack past midnight Saturday, President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud put the death toll at 100 and 300 others wounded. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Al-Shabaab rarely claims attacks with large numbers of civilians killed, as in the 2017 blast. But President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud blamed al-Shabaab by name, calling the attack "cruel and cowardly.”

"The terrorists are defeated in the battle field and we will continue defeating them," the president added.

At least one journalist is among the casualties on Saturday and two others injured, according to the Somali Journalists Syndicate.

Local media editors and journalists said they were not able to bring factual reporting due to the directive by the ministry of information which seeks to ban independent coverage of the al-Shabaab attacks as that can be deemed "propaganda" for the terrorist group.

"The government is concealing the number of the casualties from yesterday's tragedy. If we report factually on the death toll or speak to the families, that might be considered as terrorist propaganda and can put me and colleagues in danger," said one Mogadishu-based local TV journalist.

The Mogadishu government has been engaged in a military new offensive against al-Shabaab that the United States has described as one of al-Qaida’s deadliest organizations. The president has described it as "total war” against the extremists, who control large parts of central and southern Somalia and have been the target of scores of U.S. airstrikes in recent years.

Police on Saturday said about 30 were killed even though the hospitals were receiving far more than that.

The western embassies including the United States, United Kingdom, Germany and the European Union have condemned the attack and pledged their support to the Somali people.