Imagine living in a world where stepping out of the house is terrifying, when even the slightest of sounds can leave you completely shocked and devastated. That is exactly what the world has come down to with the prevalent terror attacks leaving behind massacres.
The latest reports have been a pair of suicide car bombings in Somalia on 21 August 2016 that struck a government building, killing 23 people including the two who were responsible for the attack.
Reports have stated that the explosive-laden car was rammed into the main gate of the building injuring and killing several people. The causalities are mainly students and local traders who were at a nearby school and market in the town of Galkayo.
Witnesses and reports have further claimed that just as the locals and people nearby the site of bombing rushed in to help the injured people, a second car bomb exploded in which further people were injured. Even a police officer was killed during the incident.
The attackers claimed the responsibility for the bombings, and it was the terror group Al-Shabaab that did the deed. The group’s spokesperson Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Musab spoke to Andalus radio which is a pro-militant station and claimed responsibility for their attacks on the government compound housing administrative office.
The representative of the UN Secretary-General in Somalia, Michael Keating highlighted his thoughts on the recent bombings saying that this act of terror highlights the vulnerability of Somalia civilians, including infants who are subjected to this violence.
And this was not the first attack that was manifested by the group. Violent bombings in late July and even in June were claimed by the same terrorist group, who claim to make these attacks to turn Somalia into an Islamist State.
The death toll was initially estimated around 13 but with the passing time the death toll has risen. Around 30 people were injured in the tragedy.
It was further clarified that the double suicide happened in which the first car explosion was targeted at a local government headquarters, and the second at the emergency services at the scene of the first blast.
The president of Somalia, Massan Sheikh Mohammad and Prime Minister Omar A Abdirashid Ali Sharakr strongly condemned the attacks, claiming them as “barbaric and heinous.”
A nurse of the town’s main hospital said that the hospital received more than 15 wounded people, including some with horrific wounds. He further stated that some of them were burnt beyond recognition and that it was a dark day.
Some of the injured and messed up bodies were discovered in houses, and the entire surrounding was blanketed in smoke and dust with blood all around. The day was a traumatic and barbaric experience for the civilians of Somalia.
When National Security Council spokesperson was approached for a sentence, he said that the happening was a cowardly attack targeting Puntland security forces, government officials and civilians, and just scheduled political transition of this situation towards greater representation.
Galkayo, which is around 700 kilometers northeast of Mogadishu, is the provisional capital of Mudug region, but the city is separated to its southern and northern provinces due to clan rivalry.
The country that has been trying to rebuild after establishing its first functioning central government since 1991, faces its key parliamentary elections next month and the presidential elections in October. That is mainly the reason that is presumed for these bombings.
A resident, Hahina Ishmail said in her statement that there were two huge bombs, the first one was a truck bomb and the following minute or so later it was followed by another car bomb. She even mentioned how her brother was injured in the process.