Somalia blast kills 39 as Islamists threaten ‘vicious war’ against new president

The toll has climbed to 39 dead in an unusually deadly suicide bombing at the weekend in the Somali capital Mogadishu, rescue workers said on Monday, the first since a new president was chosen this month.

Al-Shabab Islamists have threatened to escalate attacks in a “vicious war” against the new government, led by President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed – nicknamed Farmajo, and the vehicle exploded at an intersection packed with civilians, traders and security forces.

“39 people died and 27 others were wounded,” Abdukadir Abdurahman Adem head of Mogadishu’s Amin Ambulance service, said on Monday.

Final death tolls in attacks in Somalia are difficult to establish, as relatives, public and private ambulances ferry the injured and dead away.

“There were many small-scale traders alongside the road and tea shops and restaurants. There were also members of the security forces and shoppers and the blast was so huge that it killed nearly 20 people, most of them civilians,” said witness Sumayo Moalim.

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab group had not claimed the attack, however it came on the same day as the group threatened to wage “vicious war” against Farmajo and his new government, according to the SITE intelligence group which monitors jihadist accounts.