)
“It was 7:30pm (1730GMT) local time when I heard a huge explosion, followed by fire. I rushed to the scene and found the dead bodies of five young children and six others who were suffering serious injuries,“ said Abdiwahab Ali Maqogori, a resident who spoke to Somalia Report. “Although ambulances were not able to reach the scene, as residents we used a passenger car which took an hour to reach the hospital, during which the injured children bled thoroughly. Our children die everyday as the result of explosive devices which were left behind carelessly, and the young children think it is just shiny material which can be played with,” he lamented.
The number of children who have died from such explosions has increased recently due to the higher number of bombs and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) being used in the civil war between al-Shabaab and the TFG.
Residents in Maqogori blame the TFG for neglecting their duties of securing the area and eliminating landmines and explosive devices from civilian areas.