MOGADISHU – A suicide car bomb ripped through a police base in Mogadishu on Monday, killing nine people after a weekend of bloody fighting between pro-government forces and Al Qaeda-inspired insurgents. According to police sources, at least nine people were killed when the explosives-laden vehicle blew up at the Darwish camp, a site used by a police unit and adjacent to a police academy.
One police officer confirmed that at least six policemen were killed when the blast went off, at a time when security personnel in the area generally report for duty. “At least six police officers were killed. Many others were wounded, the toll could be higher but I don’t have more details,” said Abdirahman Issa, a senior police official in the Somali capital. He said a number of civilians were also killed in the explosion and added the area had been completely cordoned off.
Government sources put the death toll at seven. “Seven people lost their lives in the attack and 35 others were injured… The dead include two children aged 10 and 11 who were at the scene at the time of the incident,” the information ministry said. “We condemn this barbaric act in our strongest terms, the information we are so far getting indicates that at least seven people including police officials died and more than 30 others were injured,” Somali Interior Minister Abdishakur Sheik Hassan told reporters.
Police spokesman Abdulahi Hasan Barise said 4 suicide bombers are assumed to have carried out the attack, which he said was partially foiled by police guards at the gate. “There were around four suicide bombers including a woman and a man we think was light-skinned. They were using a truck loaded with petrol and approximately nine tonnes of explosives, they wanted to hit inside the camp but fortunately the guards opened fire and killed two of them, leaving the driver seriously injured before he hit the gate and detonated,” Barise said.
No group has claimed responsibility yet for the attack, which took place shortly after 8:30 am (0530 GMT), but recent such attacks have all been carried out by the Al Qaeda-inspired Shebab insurgents. Shebab have said they will hold a press conference later Monday. They are expected to claim responsibility for the attack. “I saw a car speeding through the gate of the camp and in seconds the heavy explosion rocked the area. There was smoke and dust hanging in the sky above the entire neighbourhood,” said Jamal Abdulkadir, a local resident.
