Suicide attack kills at least 61, including 2 Turkish nationals in Mogadishu, Somali

A suicide truck bomb targeted a busy security checkpoint in Somalia's capital on Dec. 28 morning, killing at least 61 people, authorities said. It was one of the deadliest attacks in Mogadishu in recent memory.

The attack took place at the junction called Ex-Control Afgoye in a southwestern suburb of the capital during the morning rush hour of Dec. 28.

Two Turkish nationals are among the killed, Ankara's Ambassador to Mogadishu Mehmet Yılmaz said.

"May Allah's mercy be upon our 2 citizens and innocent Somali brothers&sisters who lost their lives in the heinous terrorist attack perpetrated in #Mogadishu. Will always stand by brotherly #Somalia. Our fight against terrorism will resolutely continue," Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said in a tweet.

"Students traveling to schools and universities were among those killed in the attack," Ismail Mukhtar Orango, a Somali government spokesman, told Turkey's state-run Anadolu Agency after the attack.

The death toll is expected to rise as the victims who died in the hospital have not yet been fully counted, he added.

Mogadishu resident Mahmoud Ali, 30, told Anadolu Agency that the attack was one of the deadliest he has seen in his lifetime.

Hussain Ibrahim, a police captain, told Anadolu Agency that an investigation is underway after the attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab often carries out such attacks. The extremist group was pushed out of Mogadishu several years ago but continues to target high-profile areas such as checkpoints and hotels in the seaside city.

Al-Shabab was blamed for a devastating truck bombing in Mogadishu in October 2017 that killed more than 500 people. The group never...

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