Mogadishu, Somalia, Oct 4: A car laden with explosives blew up in front of the Ministry of Education in the Somali capital Tuesday, killing 55 people in the biggest attack since an Islamist insurgent group withdrew from Mogadishu, a rescue official said.
At least 30 others were injured, Ali Muse, the chief of Mogadishu's ambulance service, told The Associated Press.
Ali Hussein, a police officer in Mogadishu said the vehicle blew up after pulling up to a checkpoint at the entrance to the ministry offices.
The al-Qaida-linked militant group al-Shabab immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on a website it uses.
The blast has shattered over a month of relative calm in Mogadishu. Al-Shabab withdrew from the city in August amid an offensive by African Union forces, and as victims of a famine in the south began flooding into the city.
Al-Shabab is waging an insurgency against the weak U.N.-backed Somali government. AP
