MOGADISHU- On Sunday, a Turkish military cargo plane landed in Mogadishu to evacuate the wounded from the devastating truck bombing which killed over 90 people including two Turkish nationals.
The Turkish embassy tweeted that the plane brought medical staff and supplies as well, taken to a Turkish-run Mogadishu hospital.
Mohamed Abdi Hayir Mareye, Somalia’s Information Minister, informed state media that the 10 Somalis who were injured badly in the blast on Saturday were evacuated to Turkey. Turkey sent 24 doctors to treat the injured who would not be evacuated.
Since the Somalian 2011 famine, Turkey has always been a prominent provider of aid to the country as it seeks to boost influence in the strategic Horn of Africa region, against rivals from the Gulf like Saudi Arabia and UAE.
The blast on Saturday took place during rush hour at a Mogadishu busy checkpoint- this has been the deadliest attack in war-torn Somalia in over two years. While no one claimed immediate responsibility for the attack, authorities blamed al Shabaab which is an Islamist group linked to the al Qaeda.
On Saturday evening, Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo addressed the nation and stated that the group sought to destroy infrastructure and kill innocent people.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.