Egypt slams car bomb attack in Somali capital

Egypt condemned Saturday a car bomb attack that killed over 10 people at a crowded market in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

“Egypt stresses support for the government and people of Somalia in their confrontation of terrorism, which targets stability, peace and reestablishment of institutions in Somalia,” Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said in the statement.

Eyewitnesses at the scene told Xinhua that the explosion caused mayhem at the market as people scampered for safety, while the Somali police said most of the victims were civilians.

Somali official news agency SONNA reported Saturday that Somali military raids in lower Shabelle province killed seven members of Al-Shabaab militant group linked with Al-Qaida terrorist organization.

Egypt has also been suffering a rising wave of anti-government terrorist attacks that have killed hundreds of police and military personnel since the military overthrew former Islamist President Mohamed Morsi in July 2013 in response to mass protests.

Since then, most of the attacks in Egypt were claimed by a Sinai-based group loyal to the regional Islamic State group, while the post-Morsi administration declared “a war against terrorism,” led by former military chief and current President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi.

Xinhua