2024-02-06T16:55:03+00:00
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/ Reuters reported on Tuesday that an explosion occurred in a popular market in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, killing and wounding at least 25 people.
“I counted 10 dead and 15 wounded. My shop was completely destroyed. The explosions occurred in four places in the middle of the market,” Hassan Ali, a trader in Bakara market, was quoted as saying by the agency.
The incident comes just days after the African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia announced the completion of the second phase of its withdrawal, which includes 3,000 troops, after a four-month delay.
The peacekeeping force said in a statement last Saturday that “the African Union Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) has completed the second phase of the withdrawal, which included reducing the number of troops by 3,000 soldiers,” according to Agence France-Presse.
ATMIS has handed over seven forward operating bases to the internationally backed government and closed two others.
Al-Shabaab continues to launch attacks against security and civilian targets, including the capital, despite a government counteroffensive, US airstrikes and ground operations by the African Union force.