UNITED NATIONS (Sputnik) — UN Special Representative for Somalia Michael Keating in a statement on Monday strongly condemned recent bomb blasts in Somalia's Mogadishu.
"The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General (SRSG) for Somalia Michael Keating condemned in the strongest possible terms this morning’s bomb blasts at two locations in Mogadishu that reportedly killed a number of civilians," the statement, issued by the special representative’s office, noted.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the explosion at the hotel.
Keating stressed that Somalia is already facing the threat of famine and such acts of violent extremism further undermine the situation.
Somalia has been experiencing violence since the country devolved into civil war in the early 1990s. The state’s collapse provided a breeding ground for warlords, pirates and the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab. The group has been staging numerous attacks in Somalia in an attempt to create an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law.
