Somalia: Two separate bomb blasts kill 19, injures 23 in Marka town

Two separate bomb blasts in southern Somalia's two towns resulted in at least 19 fatalities and 23 injuries on Wednesday. In the first incident, a suicide bomber detonated himself in Marka town, Lower Shabelle district, killing 13 people and injuring five more. According to a Xinhua report, Abdullahi Ali Wafow, the district commissioner, and 12 other people lost their lives when a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest blew himself up outside the administration building in Marka town, the governor of the Lower Shabelle area, Ibrahim Aden Ali Naja stated.  

In a separate incident, a regional official said that two assaults in Afgoye town, also in the Lower Shabelle region, resulted in six fatalities and 18 injuries. 

Suicide bombing

In addition to this, Naja informed the media in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, "Wafow was killed in the explosion together with 12 other people who he was talking to outside his office," Xinhua reported.  

Notably, the extremist organisation, al-Shabab, which often assaults Somali government targets around the nation, took credit for the attack in Marka town. In the second assault, according to an official, six people were killed in two roadside blasts in Afgoye town’s local market. 

Abdukadir Idle, a former spokesperson for the Afgoye district administration, who was present at the site, claimed that two remotely controlled landmines detonated in the busy market. Idle remarked that the second explosion occurred a little while later and was directed toward those helping with rescue efforts, Xinhua reported. 

Somalia bombing toll

Moreover, Idle informed the Somali News Agency, “At least six people, mostly civilians, were killed and 18 others injured in the twin attacks conducted through remote-controlled explosive devices at Afgoye's animal market, the second blast caused more casualties." He indicated that because Wednesday is a market day, a sizable number of people frequently visit the market to purchase livestock. 

According to the Xinhua report, since government forces have waged rigorous operations against extremists in the central and southern areas in recent months in an effort to drive out the al-Shabab cell, the insurgent organisation has stepped up its attacks. 

In the month of April, at least six people were killed in a bombing by Islamic extremist rebels in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, which targeted a well-known beachside restaurant. Somali Police Spokesperson Maj Abdifatah Aden Hassan said that a suicide bomber who had been denied entry into the restaurant where the Somali Police Commissioner and many parliamentarians were eating, set off the explosion, PTI reported.