Alwaght- The death toll from double terrorist attacks in Somalia's capital rose to at least 300 as hospitals struggled to cope with the high number of casualties, security and medical sources said.
The first attack was a huge truck bomb that ripped through the heart of the city's K5 Junction area on Saturday. The second bomb went off two hours later in the Medina district. The K5 junction is home to government offices, hotels and restaurants.
The attack is the deadliest incident in the African country's modern history.
Somalia's Government was yet to release the exact death toll from an explosion many called the most powerful they had ever witnessed in Mogadishu. Many others were injured in the twin blasts with officials fearing the toll would continue to climb. The explosion left a trail of destruction with nearby homes and businesses flattened and vehicles turned into burned wrecks.
The city's mayor called on residents to donate blood as hospitals were running out of blood.
"I call on the Somali people to visit the city's hospitals and donate blood. Please, come to the rescue of your brothers," Thabit Abdi Mohammed, told reporters after donating blood at a local hospital.
President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed declared three days of mourning and joined thousands of people who responded to a desperate plea by hospitals to donate blood for the wounded victims.
Somalia's Government has blamed the Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab Takfiri terrorist group for the attack it called a "national disaster".
"They have targeted the most populated area in Mogadishu, killing only civilians."
Somalia's Information Minister Abdirahman Omar said the blast was the largest the city had ever seen.
"It's a sad day. This how merciless and brutal they are, and we have to unite against them," he said, speaking to the state-run radio station.
No group or person has claimed responsibility for the carnage, nevertheless, al-Shabab terrorist group is waging an insurgency against the UN-backed government and its African Union allies in a bid to topple the weak administration and impose its own terror regime.
The terrorists controlled Mogadishu between 2007 and 2011 but withdrew as fighting raged. African Union peacekeepers also drove them out of most other territory they controlled.
