The two car bombs that exploded at Somalia’s education ministry next to a busy market intersection killed at least 100 people and wounded 300, on Saturday, and there is warning the death toll could rise.

The al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab claimed responsibility, saying the ministry was at the centre of a “war on minds” that teaches Somali children using a Christian-based syllabus. Members of the security forces were among the dead and injured, its statement emailed to media said.

Al Shabaab, which is seeking to topple the government and establish its own rule based on an extreme interpretation of Islamic law, frequently stages attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere.

The first of the explosions hit the education ministry at around 2 p.m. on Saturday. The second hit minutes later as ambulances arrived and people gathered to help the victims.

SOCDEN is very sorry the attacks and condemned it.