The explosion at a popular beach in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu has left dozens of people dead and injured, NBC News reported.
Police said at least 32 civilians died and 63 injured in the blast on the beach late Friday night. Somali state media blamed the attack on the militant Islamist group al-Shabaab, which controlled vast swathes of Somalia until 2022.
Although the group has yet to respond, it has previously claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the past, including a car bombing in October 2022 when two bomb-laden cars exploded near a busy market junction, killing at least 100 people and injuring 300.
Police spokesperson Abdifatah Aden claimed the death toll on Friday night, adding that in addition to the civilians killed, one of the attackers blew himself up while three others targeted by security forces. In addition, the special services captured one attacker alive.
One of the survivors, Hassan Farah, said: “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. We were covered with smoke. Inside and outside the restaurant many people were lying on the floor while others were bleeding and crying.”
“The fact that the terrorist attack coincides with this night when the beach is the most congested shows the hostility of the terrorists to the Somali people,” former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said on his X account.
