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Blasts in Somalia capital Mogadishu 'kill at least 10'

By AAP Newswire

Feb 7, 2024

Bakaro market attack aftermath — An explosion in Bakaro market in Mogadishu has reportedly killed several people. -EPA

Several blasts at a popular open-air market in Somalia's capital Mogadishu has killed at least 10 people and left many others injured, local residents say.

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"I have counted 10 dead people and 15 others injured. My shop is completely destroyed. The blasts took place in four places in the centre of the market," Hassan Ali, a trader at the Bakara market, told Reuters.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the blasts but al-Shabab militants frequently carry out bombings in Somalia and elsewhere.

The government was not immediately available for comment.

Bakara, Mogadishu's largest market, teems with traders and is where most residents buy their food, clothes, medicine, electronics and other items daily.

Residents told Reuters several blasts went off, destroying many shops.

Three nurses at Erdogan Hospital in Mogadishu told Reuters more than 20 injured people had been brought to the facility.

Al-Shabab has been battling Somalia's federal government and an African Union-mandated peace keeping force for years seeking to establish a new government based on its own interpretation of sharia law.

By AAP Newswire

Australian Associated Press