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Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Over 70 killed in Mogadishu blast


The truck blew up in front of the Ministry of Education in the Somali capital, officials said on Tuesday. According to Somali police, the vehicle blew up after pulling up to a checkpoint at the entrance to the ministry offices. The al-Qaeda-linked militant group al-Shabab immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on a website it uses. The blast has shattered over a month of relative calm in Mogadishu. Al-Shabab withdrew from the city in August amid an offensive by African Union forces, and as victims of a famine in the south began flooding into the city. Al-Qaida-linked militants launched their deadliest single bomb attack ever in Somalia on Tuesday, killing at least 70 people and demonstrating how the group that blocked aid to famine victims can still mount devastating violence even after most of its fighters fled the capital in August.  Al-Shabab is waging an insurgency against the weak U.N.-backed Somali government. The deadliest attack comes as Somalia struggles to rebound from its worst famine in 60 years, a crisis that has brought even more misery to this country that descended into anarchy and war in 1991. A truck loaded with drums of fuel exploded outside the Ministry of Education, where students accompanied by their parents registered for scholarships offered by the Turkish government. The thunderous blast covered the city in dust more than a half-mile away, leaving blackened corpses sprawled on the debris-strewn street amid burning vehicles. One woman used a blue plastic bucket to pour water on a smoldering body. Al-Shabab fighters have compounded the suffering by preventing aid agencies from helping famine victims in areas under militant control in southern Somalia. The U.S. says 29,000 children have died since the famine began, and the U.N. says 750,000 more are at risk of starving to death in the next several months.