The Turkish government says it has evacuated 36 Somalis wounded in this week's deadly suicide attack in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

A Turkish foreign ministry spokesman told VOA on Thursday that Ankara expects to transfer as many patients as possible from Somalia to hospitals in his country.

Al-Shabab militants have claimed responsibility for the education ministry bombing Tuesday that killed at least 72 people. Many of them were students waiting to learn if they had passed exams to qualify for scholarships in Turkey.

Turkish foreign ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal condemned the attack, saying it will not stop Turkey from helping the Somali people.

During a visit to famine-hit Somalia in August, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan promised that Turkey would provide humanitarian relief and help build hospitals, schools and Somalia's infrastructure.

Somalia has endured 20 years of conflict and lawlessness since the fall of the last stable government.

Al-Shabab said Tuesday's attack was aimed at the current transitional government and pro-government African Union peacekeepers.

The Somali government said the attack shows the terror threat is not over.

The insurgents want to overthrow the government and impose a strict form of Islamic law across Somalia.