MOGADISHU: A huge explosion from a truck bomb killed 20 people in Somalia’s capital, police said Saturday, as shaken residents called it the most powerful blast they had heard in years.
The explosion appeared to target a hotel on a busy road in Hodan district and at least 15 people were injured, police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said. Security forces had been trailing the truck after it raised suspicions, he said.
Police said people were trapped in the rubble of the Safari Hotel, which was largely destroyed in the explosion. The hotel is close to Somalia’s Foreign Ministry. Rescue workers were at the scene.
The Somalia-based extremist group Al-Shabab recently stepped up attacks on army bases across south and central Somalia. While there was no immediate claim of responsibility for Saturday’s blast, Al-Shabab often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu with deadly bombings.
Gunshots could be heard at the site, and ambulance sirens wailed across the capital, which has been under tight security with military-manned checkpoints.
The explosion left a trail of destruction across a busy intersection, with several bodies and bloodied slippers and shoes. Windows of nearby buildings were shattered. Overturned cars lay in the street, burning. A large plume of smoke rose nearby.
“There was a traffic jam and the road was packed with bystanders and cars,” said Abdinur Abdulle, a waiter at a nearby restaurant. “It’s a disaster,” he said sadly.
The blast occurred two days after the head of the US Africa Command was in Mogadishu to meet with Somalia’s president, and two days after the country’s defense minister and army chief resigned for undisclosed reasons.
The US military has stepped up drone strikes and other efforts this year against the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab, which is also fighting the Somali military and over 20,000 African Union forces in the country.
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Huge blast rocks Somalia’s capital; 20 killed
Huge blast rocks Somalia’s capital; 20 killed
Tens of thousands attend funeral of killed Bangladesh student leader
- Tens of thousands of mourners gathered in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Saturday for the funeral of a student leader, after two days of violent protests over his killing
DHAKA: Tens of thousands of mourners gathered in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka on Saturday for the funeral of a student leader, after two days of violent protests over his killing.
Huge crowds accompanied the funeral procession of Sharif Osman Hadi, a key figure in last year’s pro-democracy uprising who died in a hospital in Singapore on Thursday after being shot by masked gunmen while leaving a Dhaka mosque.
Police wearing body cameras were deployed in front of the parliament building where the funeral prayers were held.
Hadi’s body, which was brought to the capital on Friday, was buried at the central mosque of Dhaka University.
“We have not come here to say goodbye,” interim leader Muhammad Yunus said in an emotional speech.
“You are in our hearts and you will remain in the heart of all Bangladeshis as long as the country exists.”
Hadi, 32, was an outspoken critic of India and was set to contest the general elections in February.
Iqbal Hossain Saikot, a government employee who traveled from afar to attend the prayers, said Hadi was killed because he staunchly opposed India.
He will continue to live “among the millions of Bangladeshi people who love the land and its sovereign territory,” Saikot, 34, told AFP.
Hadi’s death has triggered widespread unrest, with protesters across the South Asian nation demanding the arrest of those responsible.
Late Thursday, people set fire to several buildings in Dhaka including the offices of leading newspapers Prothom Alo and the Daily Star.
Critics accuse the publications of favoring neighboring India, where Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has taken refuge since fleeing Dhaka in the wake of the 2024 uprising.
Rights group Amnesty International on Saturday urged Bangladesh’s interim government to carry out “prompt, thorough, independent and impartial” investigations into Hadi’s killing and the violence that followed.
It also expressed alarm over the lynching of Hindu garment worker Dipu Chandra Das following allegations of blasphemy.
Yunus said seven suspects had been arrested in connection with Das’s killing in the central district of Mymensingh on Thursday.
Huge crowds accompanied the funeral procession of Sharif Osman Hadi, a key figure in last year’s pro-democracy uprising who died in a hospital in Singapore on Thursday after being shot by masked gunmen while leaving a Dhaka mosque.
Police wearing body cameras were deployed in front of the parliament building where the funeral prayers were held.
Hadi’s body, which was brought to the capital on Friday, was buried at the central mosque of Dhaka University.
“We have not come here to say goodbye,” interim leader Muhammad Yunus said in an emotional speech.
“You are in our hearts and you will remain in the heart of all Bangladeshis as long as the country exists.”
Hadi, 32, was an outspoken critic of India and was set to contest the general elections in February.
Iqbal Hossain Saikot, a government employee who traveled from afar to attend the prayers, said Hadi was killed because he staunchly opposed India.
He will continue to live “among the millions of Bangladeshi people who love the land and its sovereign territory,” Saikot, 34, told AFP.
Hadi’s death has triggered widespread unrest, with protesters across the South Asian nation demanding the arrest of those responsible.
Late Thursday, people set fire to several buildings in Dhaka including the offices of leading newspapers Prothom Alo and the Daily Star.
Critics accuse the publications of favoring neighboring India, where Bangladesh’s ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has taken refuge since fleeing Dhaka in the wake of the 2024 uprising.
Rights group Amnesty International on Saturday urged Bangladesh’s interim government to carry out “prompt, thorough, independent and impartial” investigations into Hadi’s killing and the violence that followed.
It also expressed alarm over the lynching of Hindu garment worker Dipu Chandra Das following allegations of blasphemy.
Yunus said seven suspects had been arrested in connection with Das’s killing in the central district of Mymensingh on Thursday.
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