Thirteen people have been killed and 20 others wounded in a bombing that took place in central Somalia on Saturday.
According to the local police, a suicide bomber drove a truck filled with explosives towards a security checkpoint in the town of Beledweyne.
“We have recovered the dead bodies of 13 people, most of them civilians who stayed nearby,” said Ahmed Yare Adan, a local police officer, in a phone interview with AFP.
The blast occurred in a residential area and targeted a security checkpoint. Abdirahman Dahir Gure, the interior minister of Hirshabelle state where Beledweyne is located, announced that the death toll had risen to 18.
Additionally, 40 people were reported to be wounded in the attack.
Abdifatah Mohamed Yusuf, the director-general of the Hirshabelle Ministry of Humanitarian and Disaster Management, stated that 20 of the wounded had been admitted to hospitals in Beledweyne.
He further requested for 20 critically injured individuals to be airlifted to Mogadishu for advanced medical treatment.
Eyewitness Abdikadir Arba reported, “It was a truck loaded with explosive devices that forcefully passed through the government-manned checkpoint, and a pick-up vehicle belonging to security personnel was chasing it when it exploded.” Many buildings and shops close to the blast were reduced to rubble.
Videos shared on social media showed local residents searching for survivors in the debris. One woman, Halima Nur, expressed her distress as her niece and others who were in a nearby shop could not be reached.
No group has claimed responsibility for the explosion at this time.
Somalia has been battling armed groups, including al-Shabab, for many years. The government forces have intensified their operations against these groups since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared an “all-out war” last year.
Despite efforts, al-Shabab still controls areas outside the capital, Mogadishu.
President Mohamud, who recently visited the front line, pledged to eliminate the jihadists by the end of the year.
