Al-Shabab bomb kills 17 in Mogadishu
News & Trends •
in october last year al shabaab killed more than 500 people in the deadliest attack at a busy intersection in mogadishu1 no fewer than 17 people were killed and eight others injured in an explosion on thursday outside a popular hotel in somalias capital mogadishu1 seventeen people died including a young girl some workers and persons having tea at roadside teashops popularly known as bibiito said mr ibrahim1 he said a tricycle taxi locally known as bajaaj may have been used for the explosion1 the blast occurred opposite one of mogadishus oldest lodges the weheliye hotel along the busy maka al-mukarrama avenue1 the jihadist al-shabaab group claimed responsibility1 the group carries out frequent attacks in mogadishu as it seeks to overthrow the internationally recognised somali government1 a spokesman for the ministry of internal security abdiaziz ali ibrahim told the media that the wounded were being treated at the citys hospitals1 harakat al-shabaab al-mujahideen more commonly known as al-shabaab is a jihadist fundamentalist group based in east africa1 founded in 2006 the jihadists in 2012 it pledged allegiance to the militant islamist organization al-qaeda1 it emerged as the radical youth wing of somalias now-defunct union of islamic courts which controlled mogadishu in 2006 before being forced out by ethiopian forces1 there are numerous reports of foreign jihadists going to somalia to help al-shabab from neighbouring countries as well as the us and europe1 it is banned as a terrorist group by both the us and the uk and is believed to have between 7000 and 9000 fighters1 al-shabab advocates the saudi-inspired wahhabi version of islam while most somalis are sufis1 it has imposed a strict version of sharia in areas under its control including stoning to death women accused of adultery and amputating the hands of thieves1