Only a few attacks since the ones on Sept. 11, 2001 have killed as many people, according to the Global Terrorism Database at the University of Maryland.
Somalia’s government has blamed the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab extremist group for the Oct. 14 attack, which struck a crowded street. Security officials said the bomb weighed between 600 kilograms and 800 kilograms (1,300 pounds and 1,700 pounds) as the extremist group’s bomb-making capabilities grow.
The attack appalled Somalis, with some calling it their “9/11.” The hundreds of wounded overwhelmed Mogadishu’s hospitals, where many people defied traditional hesitations and rushed to donate blood. Bewildered family members picked through the rubble days afterward as hopes of finding survivors faded.
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