A suicide truck bomb attack in Mogadishu, Somalia
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On 28 December 2019, a
suicide
truck bomber
killed at least 85 people at the Ex-Control Afgoye
police checkpoint
in
Mogadishu
, Somalia. More than 140 others were wounded and, as of 31 December, 12 people remained missing.
[1]
Al-Shabaab
claimed responsibility for the attack on 30 December.
[2]
[3]
The attack was the deadliest in Somalia since the
14 October 2017 Mogadishu bombings
, which killed 587 people.
Attack
[
edit
]
The attack occurred at a busy
intersection
on the western outskirts of Mogadishu, at a police checkpoint during local
rush hour
. The major intersection connects Mogadishu with the rest of southern and southwestern
Somalia
.
[4]
The Ex-Control Afgoye checkpoint is located near a tax office, and is used by vehicles entering Mogadishu from nearby
Afgooye
town.
[5]
The truck
bomb
explosion caused massive damage to the surrounding area, and left many of the dead burned beyond recognition. At least 15 of those killed were university students returning to class at
Benadir University
, whose minibus was demolished in the explosion. Two Turkish
engineers
, who were constructing a road from the checkpoint into the city, were also killed in the bombing.
[6]
Many others were wounded.
[7]
Fifteen
critically injured
people, including an eight-month-old baby, were
airlifted
to
Istanbul
,
Turkey
for further medical treatment; thirty other critically injured people received medical treatment in
Qatar
and other neighboring countries.
[4]
[8]
Somali Prime Minister
Hassan Ali Khaire
announced the establishment of a national response committee to help the injured and offer support to those who lost family members in the attack.
[4]
Responsibility and aftermath
[
edit
]
Initially, no group claimed responsibility for the attack.
[9]
On 30 December, two days after the attack, radical
Islamist
group
Al-Shabaab
, which had carried out previous suicide attacks in Mogadishu, claimed responsibility. Through spokesman Ali Mohamud Rageh (also known as Ali Dhere), the group stated that they targeted a convoy of Turkish and Somali forces in the attack, noting that they "inflicted heavy losses on the Turks and the apostate militias who were protecting them."
[10]
Somalia's
National Intelligence and Security Agency
(NISA) stated that a foreign country helped organize the attack, issuing a statement that, "We have submitted to the national leaders a preliminary report indicating that the massacre against the
Somali people
in Mogadishu on 28 December 2019 was planned by a foreign country. To complete the ongoing investigation we will seek cooperation from some of the international intelligence agencies."
[3]
[10]
However, the statement did not name the country suspected to be involved or provide additional evidence.
[10]
The
Somali government
, in coordination with
U.S. Africa Command
, conducted three retaliatory
airstrikes
targeting Al-Shabaab leaders in the
Lower Shabelle
region after the attack. The airstrikes, in the villages of
Kunyo Barrow
and Aliyow Barrow, killed four militants and destroyed two vehicles.
[1]
[10]
References
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