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20 killed and 36 injured in Al Shabaab car bomb attack on government offices in Beledweyne, 3 Oct

Pays
Somalie
Sources
AOAV
Date de publication
Origine
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Two suicide car bombs targetting the local government headquarters in Lama-Galayy military base, Beledweyne, Somalia, on the morning of 3 October, resulted in the death of 20 people and the injury of 36 more. A third car bomb exploded in the afternoon, while heading for the same target.

The deputy governor of the Hiran region, the region’s health minister, the deputy commissioner of finance, and MPs and ministers are among the fatalities.

The explosions occurred hours after the Somali government announced that a senior member of Al Shabaab, its co-founder Abdullahi Nadir, was killed in a joint operation with US Africa Command (AFRICOM) on 1 October.

Al Shabaab quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.

Since 2010, AOAV has recorded 1,050 incidents of intentional explosive weapon use in Somalia, resulting in 9,152 reported civilian casualties (3,537 killed and 5,615 injured), and 4,731 reported armed actor casualties (3,743 killed, 988 injured).

IEDs account for the majority of recorded incidents, 54%, as well as the majority of reported civilian casualties, 73%. The majority of reported armed actor casualties, 51%, are attributed to air-launched weapons, followed by IEDs, which account for 39% of armed actor casualties.

Of the 6,640 reported civilian casualties of IEDs in Somalia since 2010, 68% were caused by car bombs. 21% by non-specific IEDs, and 7% by roadside bombs.

40% of the reported 1,826 armed actor casualties of IEDs in Somalia since 2010 are attributed to car bombs, and 27% to roadside bombs and non-specific IEDs respectively.

Al Shabaab was the reported perpetrator in the case of 52% of the 562 recorded IED attacks in Somalia since 2010, and of 66% of civilian casualties and 76% of armed actor casualties of IEDs. Unknown non-state actors were behind 34% of incidents, while actors of unknown name and status are responsible for 14% of incidents.

33% of recorded IED attacks in Somalia since 2010 have been suicide attacks, and suicide attacks in Somalia have caused 70% of civilian casualties of IEDs and 51% of armed actor casualties of IEDs in that time.

AOAV’s casualty figures represent the lowest of estimations in terms of the number of people killed and injured by explosive weapon use. In an effort to quantify the explicit harm caused by specific explosive weapons, AOAV solely records incident-specific casualty figures, as reported in English-language media.

AOAV condemns the use of violence against civilians and the use of explosive weapons in populated areas. All actors should stop using explosive weapons with wide-area effects where there is likely to be a high concentration of civilians.