Death toll in Mogadishu terrorist attack goes up to 53

By Mehmet Nuri Ucar, Khalaf Rasha, Zeynep Tufekci

MOGADISHU, Somalia

The death toll from Friday's terrorist attack in Somali capital Mogadishu has reached 53 persons, said Somali police sources on early Sunday.

Captain Mohamed Hussein - a senior Somali police officer - said that 53 people were killed, and at least 100 others were injured in Friday's triple car bombings in Mogadishu.

Hussein said that two bomb-laden vehicles targeted Sahafi Hotel, where government officials often visit and an explosion occurred in a parking lot of the hotel nearby a police station.

Ahmad Zakariya, a rescue worker, previously said the death toll reached 23, including nine al-Shabaab militants.

Somali-based insurgent group al-Shabaab claimed the responsibility for the attack.

According to the official news agency of Somalia, six of the attackers were killed by security forces, while three suicide bombers blew themselves up.

Sahafi is a popular hotel located on the busy KM4 street and frequented by Somali government officials.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) strongly condemned the attack, reiterating its stance against “all forms of violent extremism and terrorism”.

OIC’s Secretary General Yousef Al-Othaimeen said that OIC is in “solidarity with the Somalian government in its war against terrorism.”