A suicide bombing attack by the Al-Shabab militant group on a crowded tea shop in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu killed 10 people and wounded dozens, the government said Saturday.
The death toll from the attack, which targeted a tea shop near heavily guarded government institutions on Friday evening, was significantly higher than the four previously reported.
“On the evening of July 2, a suicide bomber wearing a vest detonated the device near the Juba Hotel, killing at least 10 people with dozens injured,” the ministry of information, culture and tourism said in a statement.
“The attack occurred during a busy hour where the victims were enjoying a local tea shop,” it added, saying the “malicious” attack was by Al-Shabab.
The Al-Qaeda-linked group swiftly claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement saying “15 elements from the governmental intelligence, police, and militia were killed and 22 others were wounded.”
Sources said that the attack took place just a few hundred meters from the headquarters of the Somali Intelligence Agency at around 5:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) Friday.
“The cafe was crowded when the blast occurred,” said witness Abdikarim Ali.
The cafe is often frequented by members of the Somali security forces, sources said.
Al-Shabab, which is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government in Mogadishu, regularly attacks government and civilian targets in Mogadishu.
The group controlled the capital until 2011 when it was pushed out by African Union troops, but still holds territory in the countryside.
An estimated 30 people died on Sunday( June 27) when Somalia’s Islamist Al-Shabab group launched an attack in a town in the country’s semi-autonomous state of Galmudug, a security official said.
The insurgents used car bombs in the assault on a military base in Galmudug’s Wisil town, located in central Somalia, triggering a fight with government troops and armed locals, Major Mohamed Awale, a military officer in Galmudug told Reuters.
“They attacked the base with two car bombs and fierce fighting that lasted over an hour followed,” he said.
“The car bombs damaged the military vehicles...residents were well armed and reinforced the base and chased the Al-Shabab.”
Thirty people, including 17 soldiers and 13 civilians, died in the fighting, Awale said.
The Al-Qaeda-allied Al-Shabab has been fighting in Somalia for more than a decade to try to topple the country’s central government and establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
Fighters from the group frequently carry out gun and bomb assaults on a range of both civilian and military targets including busy traffic intersections, hotels and military bases.
During the attack that lasted about an hour, Abdullahi Mohamed, a resident in Wisil said he and others had “crept and slept on the ground,” and added he had personally seen about 30 people injured in the assault.
The Somalia government condemned the attack and said 41 Al-Shabab fighters had been killed in the fighting as both the military and armed residents pursued the assailants, according to a statement posted on the website of the Somalia state news agency, SONNA.
Those injured in the attack, the statement said, had been airlifted to the capital Mogadishu for treatment.
Al Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack via a statement on its Radio Al Andalus and said its fighters had killed over 30 soldiers and injured over 40 others.
The insurgents used car bombs in the assault on a military base in Galmudug’s Wisil town, located in central Somalia, triggering a fight with government troops and armed locals, Major Mohamed Awale, a military officer in Galmudug told Reuters.
“They attacked the base with two car bombs and fierce fighting that lasted over an hour followed,” he said.
“The car bombs damaged the military vehicles...residents were well armed and reinforced the base and chased the Al-Shabab.”
Thirty people, including 17 soldiers and 13 civilians, died in the fighting, Awale said.
The Al-Qaeda-allied Al-Shabab has been fighting in Somalia for more than a decade to try to topple the country’s central government and establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
Fighters from the group frequently carry out gun and bomb assaults on a range of both civilian and military targets including busy traffic intersections, hotels and military bases.
During the attack that lasted about an hour, Abdullahi Mohamed, a resident in Wisil said he and others had “crept and slept on the ground,” and added he had personally seen about 30 people injured in the assault.
The Somalia government condemned the attack and said 41 Al-Shabab fighters had been killed in the fighting as both the military and armed residents pursued the assailants, according to a statement posted on the website of the Somalia state news agency, SONNA.
Those injured in the attack, the statement said, had been airlifted to the capital Mogadishu for treatment.
Al Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack via a statement on its Radio Al Andalus and said its fighters had killed over 30 soldiers and injured over 40 others.
