MOGADISHU: Somalia’s Shabab militants killed at least 19 people when five gunmen detonated a bomb before storming a popular seaside restaurant in the capital Mogadishu, police said Friday.
“They killed nearly 20 people, including women and children,” Somali police officer Mohamed Abdirahman said, describing it as a “barbaric and brutal attack against innocent civilians”.
The Lido beach area in Mogadishu is busy with restaurants, including upmarket establishments popular with business people and diaspora Somalis who have returned home to the city.
After a huge explosion, gunmen burst into the restaurant on Thursday evening as diners were sitting down for their evening meal, at the start of
Somalia’s weekend.
“The fact that they have chosen this location during a weekend night shows how merciless the Shebab militants are,” Abdirahman added.
“They wanted to kill more civilians — but the security forces rescued most of the people.”
The Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab claimed responsibility for the attack, in which four of their gunmen were also killed, and one captured.
