Bombings in Mogadishu Since 2008 , there have been several bombings in Mogadishu . Some of these have clearly been part of the Somali Civil War while the relationship between other bombings and the war remains unclear . 2008 . The 2008 Mogadishu bombings occurred on 3 August 2008 . A roadside bombing killed 21 women who were cleaning rubbish from a southern Mogadishu street on Sunday morning , a hospital official said . Mogadishu residents gathered around victims of the bomb attack along the city ' s Maka Al Mukarama Road . The bomb blast wounded another 46 people , most of them Somali women who had gathered to clean Maka Al Mukarama Road in southern Mogadishu ' s Kilometer 4 district , according to Medina Hospital director Dr . Dahir Dhere . It is unclear who was behind the attack . Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Omar Habeb Dhere , who was recently fired by the country ' s prime minister , blamed the Islamic Courts Union for waging the attack . But the head of the Islamist insurgent group , Abid Rahim Ise Adow , denied any involvement and blamed Somalia ' s government for orchestrating the attack . The victims were participating in a program that allows Somali women to work as street cleaners in exchange for food . The United Nations ' World Food Program organized the program , which began last year and is administered by Mogadishu ' s regional authority . 2009 . African Union base . Two large - scale attacks against AMISOM soldiers carried out by al - Shabaab suicide bombers in Mogadishu , Somalia occurred in 2009 . One occurred in February while the other occurred in September . On 22 February 2009 , an attack was carried out by Al - Shabaab against the base of the African Union Mission to Somalia in Mogadishu . The attack , carried out by a suicide bomber in a car and one on foot , left 11 Burundian soldiers dead and 15 others seriously hurt . The car bomber was a Somali contractor who had easy access to the base . The Burundian troops , part of the 3 , 400 strong AU force in Somalia , were unloading supplies when they were hit by the blast . On 17 September 2009 , twin suicide bombings ripped through the headquarters of AMISOM in Mogadishu , killing 17 soldiers in the deadliest such attack against the mission . The bombers were able to enter the base using two stolen white UN cars and struck a meeting between the peacekeepers and the transitional government . Brigadier General Juvenal Niyoyunguruza of Burundi , the deputy head of AMISOM , was killed in the blast , while the mission ' s Ugandan commander , General Nathan Mugisha , was wounded . Of the dead peacekeepers , 12 were Burundian and five were Ugandan . Four Somali civilians also died in the attacks , which wounded 40 people . Shelling by both insurgents and AMISOM after the bombings killed 19 Somali civilians . Hotel Shamo . The 2009 Hotel Shamo bombing was a suicide bombing at the Hotel Shamo on 3 December 2009 . The bombing killed 25 people , including three ministers of the Transitional Federal Government , and injured 60 more , making it the deadliest attack in Somalia since the Beledweyne bombing on 18 June 2009 that claimed more than 30 lives . The attack took place inside the meeting hall of the Hotel Shamo in Mogadishu during a commencement ceremony for medical students of Benadir University and was carried out by a suicide bomber dressed as a woman , " complete with a veil and a female ' s shoes " , according to Minister of Information Dahir Mohamud Gelle . According to witnesses , the bomber approached a speakers ' panel , verbally greeted them with the phrase " peace " , and detonated his explosives belt . Former Minister of Health Osman Dufle , who was speaking when the blast happened , reported that he had noticed an individual wearing black clothing moving through the audience immediately before the explosion . The ceremony — the second since Benadir University was formed in 2002 and a rare event in war - torn Somalia — had attracted hundreds of people . In attendance were the graduates and their family members , University officials , and five ministers of the Transitional Federal Government ( TFG ) . Security inside the meeting hall was light and all of the ministers ' bodyguards were outside the hall . 2010 . The May 2010 Mogadishu bombings were an attack at a mosque near the Bakara market on 1 May 2010 . The bombs killed at least 39 people and injured around 70 others . The bombings occurred around local time ( UTC ) . The bombs were placed at opposite ends of the ground floor of the Abdala Shideye Mosque as people were awaiting the Dhuhr midday prayers . It is believed that Fuad Mohamed Qalaf , an upper - level official within al - Shabaab , was the intended target of the attacks . Qalaf was reported to have suffered only minor injuries to his hands . The attack was the deadliest in Mogadishu since the Hotel Shambo bombing in December 2009 . Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gelle said it was the first such attack in a mosque in Somalia . Ambassador Boubacar Gaoussou Diarra , representing the African Union , said " Indiscriminate attacks on public places like today ' s incident cannot be condoned . I , on behalf of the African Union , would like to call upon all warring parties in the Somali Conflict to stop such barbaric attacks on innocent civilian population . " While al - Shabaab has accused private Western security firms , no group has claimed any kind of responsibility for the bombings . 2011 . A truck carrying explosive was driven into a government ministry and was subsequently detonated . The attack comes after the militant group Al - Shabaab withdrew its troops from Mogadishu . The attacks killed 70 and injured more than 42 people .