Oxfam Somalia said at least eight people had been killed and 13 injured as a powerful bomb exploded outside a primary school in Mogadishu Thursday, slamming the school’s gates and scattering books and shoes in a shocking explosion.
The university is among several schools that were attacked by suicide bombers on Thursday.
Ali Nur, spokesman for the Somali government, said the bomb was placed on a motorcycle on the school’s grounds and exploded near the students’ gate.
“We immediately dispatched emergency teams to the scene and transported the wounded to various hospitals in the city. The death toll is rising and many others were injured,” he said.
Ahmed Mohamed, the mayor of the Jibowaso district where the school is located, said that eight people were killed and 13 injured.
Jamal Nur, who lives on the street where the explosion occurred, said the explosion sounded like a plane had hit their house.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast.
Last year marked the deadliest single attack in Somalia’s modern history when two car bombs exploded near the former prime minister’s office in the capital, killing more than 500 people.
Mogadishu has been hit by a series of deadly blasts this year. In February, a bomb attack in a busy market killed at least 31 people.
Last month, an attack on a Mogadishu hotel complex killed 15.
Earlier this year, a car bomb attack outside the airport in Mogadishu killed more than two dozen people.
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