Somali government releases identities of six masterminds of Oct 14 truck bombing

The October 14 deadly truck bombing was executed by six key individuals including the driver of the truck, the government said Tuesday.

A statement from the ministry of information identifies the driver of the truck Maadey Osman Haji (Maaday), the ring leader Mukhtar Mohamud Hassan aka Gardub and head of suicide explosive unit in Banadir region Abdiweli Ahmed Dirie aka Abdikani.

The others are coordinator Hassan Aden Isaack and the suicide bomber of the Noah minivan Ali Yussuf Wa’eys aka Duale and a sixth person Abdullahi Abdi Wasame whose role is not identified in the statement.

Maaday was the driver of the suicide truck that was loaded with deadly explosives which detonated around the junction of Zoope, KM5 in Mogadishu killing over 400 and injuring many more. Isaack, the driver of the vanguard Noah car and the coordinator of the attack  was arrested in the process of handing over the minivan to Duale who was nabbed too by security forces, the government said. It also published photos of three of the bombers.

The government said Duale was to detonate the Noah minivan first to pave way for the heavy truck for maximum carnage. Security forces safely detonated the minivan which was loaded with explosives.

The government released the statement Wednesday a month after the deadly truck bombing that killed over 400 people and maimed hundreds of others. Meanwhile a footage aired by the state television SNTV Tuesday showed the ill-fated truck driving fast into Zoope junction ramming into vehicles as it swerved into the road divider. The clip ends as the truck hits several vehicles.

The militant group Al-Shabaab has gone mute over it but the government has blamed for the group pledging to avenge the deaths.