Two bombs exploded inside a mosque in Mogadishu's main market Saturday in the first Iraq-style bombing in Somalia. At least 32 people were killed and 70 wounded, officials said. The blasts in the Bakara market went off while people were sitting inside the Abdala Shideye mosque waiting for noon prayers. The bombings highlight the increasingly violent path Somali militants are taking following an influx of insurgents into the country from the Afghanistan conflict, fighters who are now training Somali militants. Most of the victims were worshippers, said businessman Ahmed Abdulle, a witness. “The first one occurred at the back of the mosque and the other one at the front. I saw the dead bodies of at least 11 people and 18 injured,” said a businessman, Isma'il Dahir. “The blood stained the walls and human flesh was scattered everywhere.” Ali Muse, the head of Mogadishu's ambulance service, said at least 30 people were killed and 70 wounded. Abdullahi Haji Ilmi, a witness, said he counted 32 bodies. A high-ranking member of Somalia's most powerful militia, Al-Shabab, was said to be inside the mosque during the explosions. It was not immediately known whether Fuad Mohamed Qalaf survived the bombings. Qalaf is among 11 people whose assets were recently frozen by the United State for involvement in terrorism. “Sheikh Fuad used to teach religious lessons at the mosque every Saturday. He was there when the blasts went off. The whole area was cordoned of by scores of Al-Shabab militants. Nobody could get inside,” said another businessman, Farhan Alin. An Al-Shabab spokesman, Sheikh Ali Mohamud Rage, blamed the attack on the work of “foreign security companies” whose aim, he said, was to massacre Muslims. Rage offered no proof for his allegation. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the first such bombing of a mosque in Somalia. A bombing took place outside a mosque in Bakara earlier in the week, killing two people. Some residents said they feared the strikes were just the latest tactic copied by Somali insurgents from Iraq, where Sunni and Shia insurgents often target each others' mosques. Al Shabaab has also used suicide bombers to devastating effect over the past two years, killing five government ministers and dozens of African Union peacekeeping troops. Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gelle said the government would not attack the rebels where many other people were gathered.
