Somalia appeals for help as death toll hits 120 after car bombings

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Somalia has appealed for more help from foreign countries, just hours after the Al-Shabaab militants detonated two bombs in the streets of Mogadishu, killing scores of people while injuring hundreds according to government statistics.

By Tuesday, the death toll had hit 120 people, the worst in five years with 300 others struggling to get medication in dilapidated health facilities across the capital Mogadishu. The militants targeted the busy Zobe junction where the Ministry of Education building is located.

Among those who died to include journalists, students, and traders. To cater to those who are still admitted, the government through the Ministry of Health has called for more doctors from foreign nations, as a move to help them survive.

The death toll may rise further as the search for missing people continues and if the condition of some of the 300 people wounded deteriorates, said Somalia's Health Minister Ali Haji. Searching is still ongoing in the rubbles of the affected buildings.

On Monday, the federal government of Somalia formed a committee, led by the health minister, to coordinate the emergency response, and Kenya, Turkey, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia have been asked to send doctors to help. The countries had initially indicated that they will chip in and assist the country.

The attack is squatted to that of October 14, 2017, which left over 500 people dead and scores injured. The attack comes at the time the country is fighting the militants with the help of ATMIS, US Africa Command, and local militia, who have been instrumental in liberating various towns.

"Such October attacks will not happen again," President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud vowed.

The country has a fragile healthcare system and its health minister says it is difficult to provide air evacuation for the hundreds of wounded individuals. The government has vowed to eliminate the militants militarily and ideologically, with Hassan Sheikh calling for help from scholars.

Somalia's government launched a blood donation campaign as the few hospitals in the capital had been overwhelmed. The country does not have a national blood bank to save lives during such a crisis, and private hospitals were charging the bombing victims for blood transfusions, BBC reports.

GAROWE ONLINE