Qatar dispatches medical aid to bomb-rocked Mogadishu

By Ahmed al-Masri

DOHA (AA) - Qatar on Tuesday dispatched urgent medical assistance to Somalia, including a team of medics, to treat people injured in Saturday’s terrorist bombing in Mogadishu that left more than 300 dead.

According to Qatar’s official news agency, the assistance was sent on the orders of Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

The Qatari medical team has been tasked with treating people injured in Saturday’s blast, some of whom will also be airlifted outside Somalia for additional treatment.

At least 300 people were killed when a massive truck-bomb -- containing hundreds of kilograms of explosive material -- turned a busy Mogadishu intersection into a scorched wasteland on Saturday. ​​

In the immediate wake of the attack, for which no group has claimed responsibility, more than 200 people were treated in Mogadishu’s Turkey/Somalia-run Recep Tayyip Erdogan Hospital.

Another 35 injured people are currently receiving treatment in hospitals in Turkish capital Ankara.