Somali Bishop Giorgio Bertin, expressed distress at the killing of over 300 people in a huge truck bombing in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
The explosion - the worst in recent history in the East African nation - occurred in the Zoobe/Hodan Junction, a busy area of the capital housing many embassies, United Nations' offices and African Union peacekeeping forces. The area erupted into chaos when a minivan and a truck, both packed with hundreds of kilogrammes of military grade and homemade explosives, exploded near a security checkpoint.
A second explosion caused a nearby fuel truck to ignite, causing a massive fireball to erupt in the area. More than 300 injured people were left in dire need of food and medicines.
The deadly bomb has attracted international condemnation and refocused the world's attention on the nearly ten year battle against sl-Shabaab Islamist group. The neighbouring countries are also remaining on the alert.
“It is a senseless attack,” Bertin, the apostolic administrator of Mogadishu and the whole of Somalia told The Tablet. “It did not respect the lives of innocent people.”
According to bishop, security force in the country are unable to operate, because they are based in a deeply divided society.
Bertin said the Somali people and the international community must be united to defeat terrorism in the country and rebuild the nation which has experienced chaos since 1991.
“Everybody should forsake a bit of themselves in order to work together for the common good,” said the Bishop.
Before concluding his weekly general audience on Wednesday (18 October) , the pope expressed his sorrow and denounced the "massacre which caused more than 300 deaths, including several children."
"This terrorist act deserves the fiercest condemnation, especially because it victimises people that are already so tried," the pope said.
Medical aid has been rushed to country to buttress the country’s fragile health system. The Somali community in Nairobi and Kenya Ministry of Health on Tuesday (17 October) mobilised blood, medicine and food donations for survivors of the attack.
Meanwhile, a severe drought is continuing in the country, with nearly 1 million Somali people being forced to abandon their homes in search food and water due to drought.
Half of the population (6.2 million people) is in need of humanitarian aid with a further 3.1 million in a crisis situation, according to the Norwegian Refugee Council (NCR). Those who are moving are settling in crowded refugee camps where they can obtain food.
PICTURE: Photo taken on 14 October, 2017 shows the explosion site near Safari hotel in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia. At least 40 people were killed and several others injured in a deadly bomb explosion near a popular hotel in Somali capital of Mogadishu.
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