AL-Shabab Terrorist Attack Kills at least 19 in Somalia Restaurant

Local Editor

Somalia's police reported Friday that the al-Shabab terrorist group killed at least 19 people when five gunmen detonated a bomb before storming a popular seaside restaurant in the capital Mogadishu.

Describing the attack as "barbaric and brutal against innocent civilians," Officer Mohamed Abdirahman said: "They killed nearly 20 people, including women and children."

After a huge explosion, gunmen burst into the restaurant Thursday evening as diners were sitting down for their evening meal, at the start of Somalia's weekend.

The al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab group claimed responsibility for the attack, in which four of their gunmen were also killed, and one captured.

For his part, Somali Security Minister Abdirazak Omar Mohamed told reporters that security forces shot dead four of the attackers as they captured one gunman when they entered the building to end the attack.

The survivors, however, described how the gunmen sprayed those in the restaurant with automatic weapons.

Another witness described how some of those killed had died in the large blast, while others were shot dead at point blank range.

Relatively, 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.

Al-Shabab, who are fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu, carry out regular militant attacks in the capital.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team