Unverified videos were shared online after the attack.
Mogadishu:
A suicide bombing by al-Shabaab and gunmen struck a crowded beach in the Somali capital Mogadishu, killing 32 people and wounding dozens in two of the deadliest attacks in months, police said on Saturday.
Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists have been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government for more than 17 years and are active in the Lido Beach area, which is popular with businessmen and authorities.
Unverified videos posted online after the attack showed people in a street, with several clips purporting to show bloodied bodies falling into the sea.
“More than 32 civilians were killed in this attack and about 63 other civilians were injured, some of them seriously,” police spokesman Abdel Fattah Aden Hassan told workers during a press conference.
“The attack and bombing that killed 32 civilians means that these Kharijites will not only attack government centers, soldiers and officials,” he added, using the term adopted by the Somali authorities to destroy Al-Shabaab.
The attack, which began on the night of the sixth fair, began when a home-made bomb exploded and gunmen stormed the area, police said and AFP testified.
“He carried out the attack randomly,” officer Mohamed Omar told AFP.
He said security forces would stop the attack and kill five militants, while a sixth member of the group exploded on the beach.
The testimony revealed that there were many people who were not locally popular when the explosion occurred, indicating how the militants invaded the area.
– Attacks on Praia do Lido –
“Everyone was in a state of panic and it was difficult to know what was happening because the shooting started after the explosion,” Abdul Latif Ali told AFP.
He said that while people are trying to protect themselves, they cannot escape.
“I saw many people turned their backs (not Zhao) and some died and others were injured,” he said.
Ahmed Yari witnesses or is attacked in a nearby hotel.
“I saw wounded people on the beach. People were screaming in panic and it was difficult to realise that he was dead and that he was still alive,” he told AFP.
Al-Shabaab has been responsible for numerous bombings and attacks in Mogadishu and other parts of the country, while the government has continued its offensive against the Islamist militants.
The Ledo area has been spared previous attacks, including a six-hour Al-Shabaab siege of a hotel near Mar in 2023 that killed six civilians and injured 10 others.
Five people were killed in a car bomb explosion at a cafe in the capital a short while ago.
In March, militants killed three people and carried out a 27-hour siege of another hotel in Mogadishu, breaking a relative lull in the fighting.
(Except that this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
