Europe

Europe

Launch of Russian Zenit rocket with U.S. satellite postponed

05 October 2011 00:47 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The United Nations Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon Tuesday strongly denounced the suicide bombing in Somaliaâ€™s capital Mogadishu, which killed at least 70 people and injuring more than 150,APA reports.

A statement issued by Banâ€™s spokesperson said that Ban was " appalled by the vicious suicide bomb attack targeting government offices and ministries in Mogadishu," whose victims reportedly included students who were inside the education ministry at the time of the bombing.

"It is incomprehensible that innocents are being senselessly targeted," said the statement, reiterating the secretary-generalâ€™s call to all Somali parties to renounce violence and engage in dialogue and reconciliation.

"The attack is all the more abhorrent coming at a time when Somali political leaders, through efforts such as the recent Mogadishu Conference, have been working together to chart a peaceful political future for Somalia," it said.

The explosion occurred Tuesday when a truck bomb was detonated at a complex belonging to the Somaliaâ€™s Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in the south of the city.

Al-Shabaab, an Islamist movement that has links to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack. Spokesman for the group said "the attacks pre-empted a plot by the Somali government and African Union peacekeepers in Mogadishu."