No one had claimed responsibility last night for the country’s deadliest blast in more than two years, but it is thought to have been carried out by Islamic militants of al-Shabaab, which has pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda.
“All I could see was scattered dead bodies,” said Sakariye Abdukadir, who was close to the blast.
“Amid the blast and some of them burned beyond recognition.”
And Sabdow Ali said: “Dozens of injured people were screaming for help, but the police immediately opened fire and I rushed back to my house.”
The bomb killed 17 police officers. Other victims are said to have included “students with ambition, and hardworking men and women”, said Somali foreign minister Ahmed Awad.
Al-Shabaab regularly carries out attacks to undermine the Somali government, which is backed by the UN. Its most deadly was in 2017 when a truck exploded next to a fuel tanker in Mogadishu, killing nearly 600 people.