MOGADISHU, Somalia — A suicide bomber disguised as a veiled woman blew himself up at a graduation ceremony Thursday in Somalia, turning a rare reason to celebrate into carnage that killed at least 22 people — including medical students, doctors and three government ministers.
The blast was blamed on Islamic militants, who have shown a rising ability to carry out sophisticated large-scale bombings against high-profile targets — and highlighted the inability of Somalia’s weak government to protect even the small section of the capital it controls.
“Today should have been a day of celebration — not mourning,” said Somalia’s ambassador to Kenya, Mohamed Ali Nur. “The hopes of many parents who eagerly awaited their sons’ graduation were recklessly dashed . . . cutting short the lives of ambitious Somalis.”
Several hundred people had gathered in the Shamo Hotel to watch the 43 medical, engineering and computer-science students from Benadir University get their diplomas when the blast ripped through the festively decorated ballroom.
Amateur video of the attack obtained by AP Television News showed the dead, including at least three journalists, lying in pools of blood amid the sound of wails and screams from the wounded. Soldiers, their AK-47 rifles slung over their shoulders, picked through the wreckage with their hands as survivors climbed over the debris of the bombed-out room.
The attack targeted one of Somalia’s most important efforts to extricate itself from anarchy and violence, explaining the presence of so many top government officials. The graduating medical students were only the second class to receive diplomas from the medical school.
Prime Minister Omar Sharmarke said it was “beneath contempt” to attack and kill students and called for urgent help from the international community to prevent the further rise of al-Shabab, a militant group with links to al-Qaeda.
Somali Information Minister Dahir Mohamud Gelle confirmed that the ministers for education, higher education and health were killed in the blast. The ministers for sports and tourism were among the 46 wounded, he said.
No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion fell upon al-Shabab, which controls much of the country and has carried out past suicide attacks.
Benadir University was established in 2002 by a group of Somali doctors who wanted to promote higher education in a country where physicians have become victims of the seemingly endless violence.
