15 children among dozens dead in Mogadishu bomb attack

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Fifteen children are among the dead following Somalia’s deadliest bomb attack, authorities have said, as the number of those killed rose to more than 300.

The director of an ambulance service in Mogadishu said the primary-age pupils were on a school bus near to where a truck bomb exploded at a busy intersection on Saturday.

 It was the first of two blasts, with the second striking the city’s Medina district two hours later.

More than 300 people have now been confirmed dead, and the number is expected to rise.

Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Aamin ambulances, said: “The death toll will still be higher because some people are still missing.”

 

 

Somalia’s government has blamed the attack on the al Shabaab extremist group, which has not commented.

Mogadishu is often a target for al Shabaab, which is allied to al Qaeda.