The United States government announced on October 24 that there was an elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria, specifically in Abuja, and that the U.S. Embassy will offer reduced services until further notice.
The government also warned on October 26 that terrorists may be planning to attack Johannesburg in South Africa on October 29.
Despite those security alerts, the bomb attacks the U.S. warned may take place in South Africa on October 29 occurred in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu that same day, killing over 100 people and wounding more than 300 others. Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced that at least 100 people were killed and more than 300 others were wounded by the two car bombs in Mogadishu.
The Somalia attack happened as students, pondering their next moves in life, lined up at the Ministry of Education to collect their high school certificates. Nearby on the bustling street, patrons packed restaurants and shops, while vendors, including mothers with children on their laps, sold vegetables and exchanged money. And just up the road, old men trickled out of a mosque before crowding into buses and three-wheeled tuk-tuks.
But several minutes after 2 p.m. on Saturday, they were all caught in a twin car explosion that tore through the Somali capital, Mogadishu, leveling buildings and burning up dozens of cars.
At least 100 people were killed and nearly 300 others wounded in the attack, the Somali president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, said on Sunday, in the most devastating act of terrorism to hit the country in five years.
The attack highlighted the challenges facing Somali leaders: The government is under persistent threat from the terrorist group Al Shabab, which claimed responsibility for the blasts, and is also trying to address rising energy and food costs and a looming famine.
After the explosions, wailing families could be heard on the street as emergency workers picked through smoldering vehicles and collapsed buildings for any sign of survivors, a vivid reminder of the pain and grief that accompany such attacks.
“What sins did they commit? Why were these people killed?” Mr. Mohamud said as he visited the site early Sunday morning.
The toll is likely to increase, Mr. Mohamud said as he urged the international community to provide medicine and doctors for the wounded and called on the city’s residents to donate blood.
“It will not be possible for us to evacuate these large numbers of injured people abroad,” Mr. Mohamud said. “We need help as soon as possible.”
The attack was swiftly condemned globally, with nations including Turkey, Kenya and the United States expressing their outrage. Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director general of the World Health Organization, said the United Nations body would assist Somalia in treating the victims.
Al Shabab, which means “The Youth” in Arabic, have wreaked havoc in the Horn of Africa nation for almost a decade and half, promising to topple the federal government and pursue their goal of establishing an Islamic state. They said they targeted the ministry because it plays a major role in educating students who join the Somali Army.
The group has lost territory and fighters in recent weeks, as the Somali government — receiving backing from African Union forces, the United States and several local clan militias — has declared an all-out war to defeat it.
The authorities have also taken several measures to restrict Al Shabab’s financing, threatened to close businesses that pay taxes and extortion fees to the group and issued a directive limiting local news media reporting on Shabab activities.
The group commands 7,000 to 12,000 fighters and nets about $120 million annually, according to U.S. intelligence officials.
The Qaeda-linked group has retaliated against this new onslaught by targeting government officials and buildings, as well as killing civilians and blowing up wells and cellphone towers in towns and villages where people support the government’s push.
Observers said that the attack on Saturday demonstrated the deadly and cohesive nature of the group and its ability to plan major strikes even as it comes under pressure from larger forces.
Still, the authorities did not explain how the two cars reached the ministry premises despite the increased presence of checkpoints and security barricades across the capital.
“Al Shabab is going out of its way to break the confidence and momentum the government has,” said Samira Gaid, the executive director of Hiraal Institute, a research center in Mogadishu that has extensively researched the Shabab’s capabilities. The latest attack, she said, “shows they are still able to maintain their secrecy, keep their intentions clear and to sustain their operations.”
This weekend’s assault took place near the area where a devastating double-truck bombing killed nearly 600 people on Oct. 14, 2017. Memories of that bombing — along with other major attacks that happened close by or at the ministry itself — remain raw in Somalia, and with each new tragedy, the pain and sorrow resurface.