UNSC slams Mogadishu suicide attack

The United Nations Security Council on Tuesday strongly condemned a car bomb attack that killed more than 70 people in the Somali capital Mogadishu.

"The members of the Security Council condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack that occurred in Mogadishu, Somalia on Oct. 4, 2011, which resulted in the death and injury of many innocent civilians," said a Security Council statement read to the press by Joy Ogwu, permanent representative of Nigeria to the UN and the president of the Security Council for October.

In the statement, the Security Council "reiterated their full support to the Transitional Federal (TFG) in its efforts to achieve peace, security and reconciliation through the Djibouti Peace Process, and the work of the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM)."

"The members of the Security Council expressed their continued appreciation for the commitment of troops by the Governments of Burundi and Uganda. They reiterated their condemnation of all acts of violence and incitement to violence against civilians, AMISOM and the TFG," said the statement.

The Council also reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations is "criminal and unjustifiable, regardless of its motivation, wherever, whenever and by whomsoever committed."

The explosion occurred on Tuesday when a truck bomb was detonated at a complex belonging to the Somali TFG in the south of the city.

Al-Shabaab, an Islamist movement that has links to al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack. A spokesman for the group said "the attacks pre-empted a plot by the Somali government and African Union peace-keepers in Mogadishu."