Al-Shabab claims Somalia car bombing, death toll climbs to 4

MOGADISHU, Somalia - The death toll from an Al-Shabab suicide car bombing at a local government headquarters in Mogadishu rose to 4 with 9 wounded, police said on Tuesday, Garowe Online reports.

Zakia Hussein, the deputy commissioner of the Somali police force said a Toyota Noah minivan packed with explosives was detonated in the office of Wardhigley district at 11:00 a.m. local time.

Video footage taken shortly afterward showed the mangled wreckage of the vehicles surrounded by debris and bodies. The death toll could rise further as some of the injured are in critical conditions.

A witness said the car bomb explosion tore through the district HQs and nearby buildings, in the deadliest attack in the capital since the start of the Holy Month of Ramadan, when Al-Shabab often raises attacks.

Last Sunday, a Turkish civil engineer was killed after a bomb fitted into his vehicle exploded near K-4, the city’s busy junction. Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack.

There have been a number of assassinations in the capital for the past few days, including the murder of former deputy district commissioner on Monday night and a staffer with the country’s security ministry.

Mogadishu faces frequent bombings at the hands of al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida affiliate which has been fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed Somali government for over a decade.

GAROWE ONLINE