AFP, MOGADISHUAl-Shabaab Islamist militants have claimed responsibility for Saturday’s massive car bomb in the Somalian capital that killed 81 people, including two Turkish citizens. “The mujahidin carried [out] an attack... targeting a convoy of Turkish mercenaries and apostate militia who were escorting them,” al-Shabaab spokesman Sheik Ali Mohamud Rage said in an audio message on Monday. Mogadishu is regularly hit by attacks by al-Shabaab, which has fought for more than a decade to topple the Somali government. For the first time, al-Shabaab apologised to the civilian victims of the attack, which it justified as necessary in fight against the Somali state and its foreign backers. The death toll increased to 81 on Monday after two victims died from their wounds, the Somalian Ministry of Information said.

Source: Taipei Times December 31, 2019 16:30 UTC