Somalia beach attack kills 32 civilians, police say

[August 03, 2024]  MOGADISHU (Reuters) -At least 32 civilians were killed and 63 injured in an explosion on a popular beach in the Somali capital Mogadishu late on Friday evening, police said, an attack blamed by Somali state media on the militant Islamist group al Shabaab. 

Hassan Ali Khaire, then former Somali Prime Minister and candidate for the 2022 presidential elections, is seen during the first round of voting in Mogadishu, Somalia. May 15, 2022. REUTERS/Feisal Omar/File Photo

It was the deadliest attack in the Horn of Africa country since twin car bombs detonated near a busy market intersection in October 2022, killing at least 100 people and wounding 300 others.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility by the al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, which has claimed similar attacks in the past, including the car bomb attack in 2022.

Police spokesperson Abdifatah Aden gave the death toll in Friday evening's explosion at a beach restaurant.

In addition to the civilians killed, Aden said that one of the attackers had blown himself up while three others had been killed by security forces. One attacker was captured alive while one soldier was killed during the assault.

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.

"We were covered with smoke. Inside and outside the restaurant many people were lying on the floor while others were bleeding and crying."

Videos posted on X showed bodies lying on the beach in the dark, and people running to safety.

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 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.

(Reporting by George Obulutsa and Abdi SheikhWriting by Elias BiryabaremaEditing by Sandra Maler and Frances Kerry)

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