MOGADISHU, Somalia – At least 16 of the most severely wounded people from Saturday’s truck bomb attack in Beledweyne city have been airlifted to Mogadishu for treatment, senior officials said.
Two small chartered planes brought the injured people to Mogadishu’s Aden Abdulle International Airport and were admitted to local hospitals for medical attention.
Saturday’s explosion — one of the worst in the East African country’s history — occurred at a busy checkpoint in Beledweyne, Hiran regional capital, about 350 km north of Mogadishu.
At least 15 people are reported to have been killed and dozens wounded in the truck bomb attack on Saturday, with police intercepting the second truck packed with explosives in the town.
Last year, scores of people, including a female MP were killed in a such attack at Lama-Galay military base in the central city, which has been the hub of community mobilization against Al-Shabaab.
In October 2017, a truck bombing in a busy junction in Mogadishu killed more than 700 people, the worst and the deadliest single explosion so far. The Somali government blamed al-Shabab.
