Mogadishu truck bomb: 500 casualties in Somalia’s worst terrorist attack
The scene of the explosion in Mogadishu. Photograph: Feisal Omar/Reuters
The death toll in the bombing that hit the centre of Mogadishu on Saturday continues to rise, with more than 300 people now believed to have been killed and hundreds more seriously injured.
The scale of the loss makes the attack, which involved a truck packed with several hundred kilograms of military-grade and homemade explosives, one of the most lethal terrorist acts anywhere in the world for many years.
Rescue workers said a definitive death toll may never be established because the intense heat generated by the blast meant the remains of many people would not be found.
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Al-Shabaab , which has been affiliated to al-Qaida since 2011, has not yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
However the organisation has a history of launching bomb attacks against civilian targets in Mogadishu, and is known to avoid claiming responsibility for operations which it believes may significantly damage its public image among ordinary Somalis.
The bombing was reported on media outlets linked to al-Shabaab.
The more recent reports say that thousands are marching after this attack.
The fuel tanker parked in the area was bad luck but may also prove to have a positive outcome if Samali's are ready to accept that Al-Shabab is responsible for these acts against them. If they do not then it will remain an uphill battle to defeat these terrorists.
These people live with this sort of possibility every day. We should be thankful for the lives we have at this time.
Americans live with terror too. Las Vegas was real.