NEWS: OIC condemns terrorist attacks in Somalia, Mali

Last updated on September 11th, 2021 at 02:39 pm

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation’s (OIC) general secretariat strongly condemned a suicide attack in Mogadishu and a terrorist bombing in Baidoa in Somalia that resulted in deaths and injuries, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

The secretariat also condemned a terrorist attack that targeted villages in Mali that killed civilians and military personnel, while also wounding others.

The secretariat offered its sincere condolences to the families of the victims, the government and the people of Somalia, wishing a speedy recovery to the injured.

It reiterated its strong condemnation and rejection of violence and terrorism in all its forms, affirming that the OIC stood with Somalia in the fight against terrorism and extremism.

The secretariat also condemned a terrorist attack that targeted villages in Mali that killed civilians and military personnel, while also wounding others.

At least seven people were wounded on Saturday when a suicide car bomber tried to strike a police post in front of the port in Mogadishu. Security forces shot the suicide bomber and the vehicle exploded, police said.

In the outskirts of Baidoa, four people were killed when land mine detonated in a restaurant.

Ali Abdullahi, an official with the Southwestern regional state, told The Associated Press that the mine was detonated by remote control as people were dining during the morning rush. Several others were wounded, he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility, but the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab group has targeted the city in the past

In Mali, armed men massacred 31 civilians in simultaneous attacks on several villages last week, then killed nine soldiers responding to the assault as violence surges in the country’s conflict-wracked center.

An Islamist insurgency that erupted in the north of the vast West African country in 2012 has swept to its center, inflaming ethnic tensions along the way.

Clashes between the ethnic communities of Fulani, nomadic herders, and Dogon traditional hunters have increased in recent months, with community-based militias — initially formed for defense — now launching attacks.

(ArabNews)