Mogadishu: In a tragic development, at least 32 civilians were killed and 63 others injured in an explosion on a popular beach in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Friday evening, according to police, the deadliest attack in the country since twin car bombs detonated near a busy market in October 2022, killing 100 people and wounding 300 others.
Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab, a militant Islamist group that has claimed similar attacks including the car bomb attack in 2022, claimed responsibility for the attack. Police spokesperson Abdifatah Aden gave the death toll in Friday evening's explosion at a beach restaurant, saying one soldier was killed in the attack and that the rest were civilians
Additionally, one of the attackers blew himself up while three others had been killed by security forces and one attacker was captured alive. State news agency SONNA had earlier said five al Shabaab attackers had been killed by security forces while a sixth had blown himself up during the assault.
Hassan Farah, a survivor, described the shock as the explosion shattered a peaceful evening. "I was in the restaurant sipping coffee and having a good chat with friends when I saw a big man running, in a second there was something like lightening and a huge blast," he told Reuters.
A witness, Mohamud Moalim, told The Associated Press that he saw an attacker wearing an explosive vest moments before the man “blew himself up next to the beach-view hotel.” Moalim said some of his friends who were with him at the hotel were killed and others were wounded.
Al Shabaab controlled a vast area of Somalia before being pushed back in government counteroffensives since 2022. However, the militants remain capable of launching significant attacks on government, commercial, and military targets. The Lido Beach area has in the past been targeted by militants allied to al-Shabab. The most recent attack last year killed nine people.
(agencies)
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