Mortar Shell Blast In Somalia Kills 27 Including Children

At least 27 people, mainly children, were killed and several others injured after an unexploded ordnance went off at a playing field near Qoryoley town in southern Somalia, local authorities confirmed. The incident on Friday was caused by explosive remnants of war like bombs and landmines that children were playing with in an open field in a village, Xinhua news agency quoted Abdi Ahmed Ali, deputy district commissioner of Qoryoley town, a city with 60,000 residents located south of Mogadishu, the capital of the nation, as saying.

Warring factions possessed the shells

Children "were occupying themselves with a mortar round that did not explode. It detonated on them, according to Abdi Ahmed, the deputy district commissioner of Qoryoley. The town hospital received 22 bodies of the children and two of the wounded died after they were sent to the hospital, Ahmed said, adding that another child died on the way to Mogadishu. He said the minors were boys between 10 and 15 years old.

“We request the government and aid agencies to clear mines and shells from the area,” he added. Locals claimed that the warring factions in Somalia used the unexploded shells.

Spike in attacks witnessed

The Al Shabab terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack on a beachfront hotel in Mogadishu on Friday, according to The Associated Press. No casualties had been recorded in the attack on the Pearl Beach hotel as of Friday evening but the security personnel had fought the terrorists all night.