INTERNATIONAL aid is arriving in Somalia in response to Saturday’s massive lorry bomb that killed more than 300 people in Mogadishu.
Another nearly 400 people were injured in the deadliest attack in Somalia’s history and one of the world’s worst attacks in years. Scores remain missing and the death toll could still rise, said officials.
A US military plane landed in Somalia’s capital yesterday with medical and humanitarian aid supplies.
Dozens of critically injured have been airlifted to Turkey for treatment.
A medical team from Djibouti arrived on Monday to evacuate the wounded.
Kenya will evacuate 31 injured Somalis from Mogadishu for specialised treatment in Nairobi and send 11 tonnes of medicine and supplies to Somalia.
Somalia’s government has blamed the attack on the al Shabab extremist group, which has not commented.
But analysts said there is little doubt that Africa’s deadliest Islamic extremist group carried out the bombing.
“No other group in Somalia has the capacity to put together a bomb of this size, in this nature,” said Matt Bryden, a security consultant on the Horn of Africa.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here