Somali bombing toll tops 300 deaths
MOGADISHU, Somalia — More than 300 people were killed in the weekend truck bombing in Somalia’s capital and scores remained missing, authorities said Monday.
As funerals continued, the government said the death toll was expected to rise.
Nearly 400 people were injured after Saturday’s bombing. Somalia’s government blamed the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab, though the Islamic extremist group has not claimed responsibility for the attack. A new statement by the SITE Intelligence Group said al-Shabab posted claims of responsibility as recently as Monday for other attacks on Somali and African Union forces — but not for Saturday’s blast.
Nearly 70 people remained missing, on the basis of accounts from relatives, said police Capt. Mohamed Hussein. As the death toll rose to 302, overwhelmed hospitals in Mogadishu were struggling to treat badly wounded victims, many burned beyond recognition.
Meanwhile, a Turkish military plane carrying 35 critically wounded people arrived in the Turkish capital, Ankara, where the wounded were taken to hospitals for treatment.
Philippine city’s last 2 terror chiefs dead
MANILA, Philippines — The last two surviving leaders of a deadly assault in the southern Philippines, including a top Asian terror suspect, were killed Monday in a push by thousands of troops to retake the last pocket of Marawi city still held by pro-Islamic State militants, top security officials said.
Four military and police officials said that Isnilon Hapilon, who is listed among the FBI’s most-wanted terror suspects, and Omarkhayam Maute were killed in a gunbattle and their bodies were found Monday in Marawi. Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana later confirmed the militant deaths.
“Yes, they are confirmed dead,” Lorenzana said, adding DNA tests would be done on the remains of the two militant leaders to pave the way for the payment of U.S. and Philippine bounties offered for the two.
The U.S. State Department has offered a reward of up to $5 million for Hapilon, whom Washington blames for ransom kidnappings of several Americans, one of whom was beheaded in 2001 in southern Basilan province.
Kurdish forces capture Raqqa square
BEIRUT — Raqqa’s public square where Islamic State militants used to perform executions and beheadings was captured Monday by the U.S.-backed Kurdish-led force fighting the extremist group in Syria, as officials said they expect the city to fall “within a few days.”
Mustafa Bali, a spokesman for the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, said clashes at Al-Naim Square raged since Sunday as the Islamic State put up a fight. Nine Islamic State fighters were killed and 12 surrendered, he said.
Al-Naim Square became synonymous with the group’s reign of terror. After declaring their self-styled caliphate in Raqqa, the militants used the central city square to carry out public beheadings and executions, forcing the residents to watch after summoning them with loudspeakers. Bodies and severed heads would linger there for days, mounted on posts.
A senior Kurdish commander in the city said the Syrian Democratic Forces fighters have not yet seen what the group left behind in the square but called its capture symbolic. “The group showed off its might in this square. Now it is broken and is chased out of the heart of its alleged capital,” the commander said.
U.S. drone strike at Haqqanis deadly
DERA ISMAIL KHAN, Pakistan — Missiles apparently fired by a U.S. drone struck a militant compound in the Kurram tribal region close to the Pakistan-Afghanistan border Monday evening, killing 20 extremists, two intelligence officials said Monday.
Five militants were initially reported killed but a later search of the compound found 15 more bodies, the officials said.
The officials said the number of militants in the compound when the missiles struck showed the site was a main center for Haqqani network militants in the area.
A government official said the compound targeted Monday was very close to the porous border with Afghanistan in mountainous terrain. He said it was not yet clear whether the compound was on Pakistani territory.
Pakistan considers U.S. drone strikes a violation of its sovereignty. Washington accuses Pakistan of providing safe havens for militants, which Pakistan denies.
A Section on 10/17/2017