Pretoria - South Africa has strongly denounced the suicide bombing in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, which killed about 70 people and injured more than 150.
Islamist radicals of Al Shabaab have claimed the bombing which killed mostly students and civilians.
The militant group, which has been fighting four years of insurgency, was forced from the Somali capital in August following a sustained offensive by the Somali government and African Union peacekeepers backing it.
Pretoria said such acts only led to the deterioration of the situation in the war-torn region and rendered the people of Somalia more vulnerable to human and natural disasters.
"The South African Government hereby reiterates that violence and counter-violence, aggression and acts of terror are counter-productive and will not serve to deliver peace and security to the Horn of Africa," said the International Relations Department on Wednesday.
It also called on political stakeholders to refrain from such acts of indiscriminate killings and resolve to work towards a political solution that is inclusive of all clans, parties and factions, and to restore peace, stability and order to Somalia.
Meanwhile, the South African humanitarian group, Gift of the Givers -- which has set up a hospital to help those in need in Somalia -- is safe, although there is concern that they were not far from the blast.
