Somalia’s capital hit by two explosions – leaving scores dead or injured

Published

2 years ago

October 29, 2022

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Two explosions have rocked the capital of Somalia in what appears to be an ongoing attack at the country’s education ministry.

“Scores” of people have been killed or injured in the blasts, according to police, but an official death toll has not yet been released.

The attack in Mogadishu occurred in a busy area that houses several key government offices, and on a day when the nation’s president, prime minister and other senior officials were meeting to discuss violent extremism.

The leaders were expected to pay particular attention to a known extremist group affiliated with al Qaeda called al Shabaab.

Nobody has yet claimed responsibility for the explosions at Zobe junction, which are understood to have been caused by car bombs.

State news agency, SONNA, said the blasts had caused “scores of civilian casualties, including independent journalist Mohamed Isse Kona”.

Reuters reported that witnesses had seen windows blown out of nearby buildings, and burnt out ambulances that were destroyed in the second blast.

“Two car bombs targeted the education ministry building along K5 street,” local resident, Ahmed Nur told the news agency.

“The second blast burnt our ambulance as we came to transport the casualty from the first blast,” Abdikadir Abdirahman, founder of the Aamin Ambulance Service, added.

Who are al Shabaab?

Al Shabaab often targets the capital with attacks on high-profile locations that begin with explosions and continue with gunmen entering and battling security teams.

The group stormed the education ministry in 2015, and the latest attack occurred at the scene of a massive al Shabaab blast in 2017, which killed more than 500 people.

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The group emerged as the radical wing of Somalia’s Islamic Courts Union (ICU), which no longer exists, and declared allegiance to al Qaeda in 2012.

Al Shabaab is viewed by the UK as a terrorist organisation.

Somalia’s government is engaged in a new offensive against the extremist group, which has been described by the US as of one of al Qaeda’s deadliest affiliates.

World

Amsterdam: Police break up pro-Palestinian protest after ‘antisemitic’ violence following football game

Published

4 hours ago

November 10, 2024

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Amsterdam: Police break up pro-Palestinian protest after 'antisemitic' violence following football game

More than 100 pro-Palestinian protesters have been taken away by police during a banned demonstration in Amsterdam following “antisemitic” violence in the wake of a football game.

Hundreds of people had defied an order banning protests and gathered in the city’s Dam Square on Sunday, chanting “Amsterdam says no to genocide” and “free Palestine”.

A three-day ban on demonstrations was brought in on Friday, following violence that erupted on Thursday after a Europa League game between Israeli team Maccabi Tel Aviv and local side Ajax.

The ban was later extended for four more days until next Thursday.

Explained: What we know about violence in Amsterdam

The aftermath of the football game was marred by violence that the mayor of the Dutch city and the country’s prime minister described as antisemitic.

At a hearing challenging the protest ban, a senior police officer said it was still needed as people thought to be Jewish were targeted on Saturday night, with some being ordered out of taxis and others asked to produce their passports.

A local court ratified the ban and the people who were rounded up were put on buses and dropped off on the outskirts of the city, police spokesperson Ramona van den Ochtend said, without confirming how many had been detained.

One protester was taken to an ambulance bleeding.

After the initial violence, five people were treated in hospital and more than 60 were held by police.

The attacks followed a Palestinian flag being torn down in the Dutch city, and another being set on fire, before Maccabi Tel Aviv fans shouted anti-Arab chants as they were escorted to the game.

The initial attacks on Israeli fans were carried out by what Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema described as “hit-and-run squads”.

Prosecutors said that four suspects remained detained, including two minors, and 40 people have been fined.

A night that ‘defied description’

Tensions began to build the day before the match when some of the 3,000 visiting Maccabi supporters had minor altercations with locals, including taxi drivers and Ajax supporters, police said.

According to officers, on Wednesday a Palestinian flag was set on fire in Dam Square, and another was pulled down from a nearby building as a taxi was also vandalised.

On game day, the Maccabi supporters chanted anti-Arab slogans including “Let the IDF win, and f*** the Arabs,” as they were escorted by police to the stadium.

A planned pro-Palestinian demonstration on Thursday was moved away from the ground to Anton de Komplein square, in an attempt to prevent any clashes, but after the game on Thursday night violence spread in the city.

Attacks broke out and police rounded up and escorted some Maccabi fans back to their hotels.

Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof described the violence as “antisemitic” and said it “defied description”.

A video which was circulated on social media showed a man being chased through the street with the caption “watch and enjoy six Zionists chased away. Free Palestine”.

A statement by Amsterdam police and prosecutors said Thursday evening “was very turbulent, with several incidents of violence aimed at Maccabi supporters”.

They added: “There is no excuse for the antisemitic behaviour exhibited last night [Thursday] by rioters who actively sought out Israeli supporters to attack and assault them.”

World

Mackenzie Michalski: Irish man allegedly admits killing US nurse at Budapest flat and dumping body near lake, say police

Published

7 hours ago

November 10, 2024

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Mackenzie Michalski: Irish man allegedly admits killing US nurse at Budapest flat and dumping body near lake, say police

An Irish man is suspected of killing a 31-year-old US nurse during an “intimate encounter” at his Budapest flat before dumping her body in woodland, according to police.

Hungarian police said Mackenzie Michalski, from Portland in the US state of Oregon, was killed after meeting the 37-year-old man at a nightclub while she was on holiday in the city.

Officers identified the suspect by the initials LTM and said he cleaned up his rented apartment in the Hungarian capital and put Ms Michalski’s body in a wardrobe and then into a suitcase.

He allegedly rented a car and drove 90 miles (150km) to Lake Balaton, where he is said to have disposed of the body in a wooded area near the village of Szigliget.

Police video showed the suspect guiding them to where he left the body.

Officers said he also searched online for how to dispose of a body, and about the competence of Budapest police. Police said he also conducted online searches about procedures in missing person cases, whether pigs eat dead bodies, and if there are wild boars around Lake Balaton.

He was arrested on 7 November but claimed the killing was an accident, police said.

Ms Michalski had been reported missing two days before, and the suspect was identified after CCTV showed the pair together at a nightclub, where police said they danced and left for his flat.

Crime scene photos show a rolling suitcase, items of clothing and a handbag next to a credit card with Ms Michalski’s name on it.

The victim’s family flew to Hungary to help find her, but on the way found out she had been killed.

“There was no reason for this to happen,” her father Bill Michalski said at a candlelight vigil in Budapest on Saturday night.

“I’m still trying to wrap my arms around what happened… I don’t know that I ever will.”

Wearing a cap she had given him, Mr Michalski said his daughter had been to Budapest before and called it her “happy place”.

“The history… she just loved it and she was just so relaxed here,” he said.

A Facebook group set up last week to find Ms Michalski said she was known as “Kenzie” and worked as a nurse.

It said she would “forever be remembered as a beautiful and compassionate young woman”.

World

Tributes paid to ‘brave’ Briton, 22, killed while fighting in Ukraine

Published

7 hours ago

November 10, 2024

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Tributes paid to 'brave' Briton, 22, killed while fighting in Ukraine

Tributes have been paid to a “brave” 22-year-old British man who was killed while fighting in Ukraine.

Callum Tindal-Draper, from Gunnislake, Cornwall, died while serving with the foreign volunteer platoon in the country’s struggle against Russia.

It is believed he was defending an observation point when he was killed on 5 November.

Callum’s mother Caroline Tindal said in a post on Facebook that “he fought till he could no longer hold them off any more”.

“His platoon are calling him a ‘hero’ and ‘as brave as they come’,” she said.

“22 is a young age. But you lived and died following your heart, soul and morals.

“May you rest in peace and help watch over those who have passed.”

Mr Tindal-Draper was a former student of Duchy College, in Stoke Climsland, Cornwall.

In a tribute on Facebook, the college’s Military and Protective Services Academy said he was a “model student” with a “strong moral compass”.

“He was a passionate, articulate and bright student, who was keen to learn,” the post said.

“He was very proud of his family history in the services,” the post added.

“He was well-liked and respected by his peers, and was not one to shy away from causes he believed in and was instrumental in collecting the three minibus loads of humanitarian equipment for civilians that the learners gathered when the war in Ukraine initially kicked off.”

The post said Mr Tindal-Draper worked for the NHS after finishing the course.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said: “We are aware that a British national has reportedly died in Ukraine and stand ready to assist the family in the UK.”