( CNN ) -- Somalia 's president on Wednesday declared three days of national mourning for the victims of a suicide truck bomb that killed more than 70 people in Mogadishu , the nation 's capital . According to the Health Ministry , 72 were killed Tuesday and 103 remained injured , 38 of those in serious condition . A majority of the victims were students and their parents who were registering for an education program at a government complex . Al-Shabaab , an Islamist movement that has links to al Qaeda , claimed responsibility . President Sharif Ahmed visited the scene and some of the hospitals where the victims were , the government said in a statement . Some of the injured who can not be treated in Somalia will be flown to other countries . `` At this time , when the country is in the midst of a worsening humanitarian crisis , the terrorists could not have attacked the Somali people at a worse time , '' said Abdulkadir Hussein Mohamed , the country 's minister of information . According to the government , Tuesday 's bombing was the second Al-Shabaab attack in two years that specifically targeted students . In December 2009 , a suicide bomber attacked a university graduation ceremony in Mogadishu , killing more than 20 people . Al-Shabaab is a group in Somalia that was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States government in March 2008 . It is waging a war against Somalia 's government to implement a stricter form of Islamic law , or Sharia . Federal and African Union forces in the impoverished and chaotic nation have battled the group for years . Many analysts believe that Al-Shabaab has been severely weakened by the African Union Mission in Somalia , targeted strikes against foreign members and the weakening of al Qaeda .
A suicide truck bomb killed 72 people three days . Mogadishu 's president visits hospitals and bombing scene , calls for Tuesday of mourning . Sharif Ahmed claimed responsibility for the blast .