The Islamist group, Al-Shabaab on Monday claimed responsibility through an audio message, for a car bomb blast in Mogadishu that killed at least 90 people over the weekend.

In the message, Ali Mohamud Rage, Al-Shabaab’s spokesman said, “The blast targeted a convoy of Turkish and Somali forces and they suffered great loss.”

Rage accused Turkey of taking all of Somalia’s resources and promised to continue targeting their people in the country.

“We shall always fight the Turkish who work with the apostate government of Turkey. We are not against innocent Turkish Muslim citizens.” he said.

Two Turkish nationals were killed when a small team of Turkish engineers were present at the time of the blast constructing a road to the city.

The bombing was the deadliest the country had experienced in more than two years with nearly three decades of Islamist violence and clan warfare.

The National Intelligence and Security Agency claimed a foreign government helped plan the attack but did not name the country that was involve in the blast.

It stated in a tweet that “A foreign country planned the massacre of the Somalis in Mogadishu on 28 Dec 2019”.

Somalia has become a sector for military and diplomatic rivalry between Turkey and Qatar on one side and the United Arab Emirates on the other.

Al-shabaab carry out frequent attacks to undermine Somalia’s central government which is working hand in hand with the United Nations and African Union peacekeeping troops to stop the militia’s operations.