At least 14 people were killed and several injured in an explosion near a popular hotel in Somalia’s Mogadishu on Thursday, AP reported. Captain Mohamed Hussein said the car bomb exploded near Weheliye Hotel on the busy Makka Almukarramah Road, and that most of the casualties were passersby and traders.
Extremist group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack, according to Reuters. Security Ministry Spokesperson Abdulaziz Hildhiban confirmed the toll.
The blast in Mogadishu follows two car bomb attacks in the Somalian capital last month, which claimed 38 lives. On October 14, 2017, blasts in Mogadishu had killed at least 358 people. Al-Shabaab did not claim these attacks, but the group is believed to have been behind them.
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