At least 32 civilians were killed and 63 injured in an explosion at a popular beach in the Somali capital Mogadishu late on Friday evening, police reported. The Somali government has blamed the attack on the militant Islamist group al Shabaab.
This attack marks the deadliest incident in the Horn of Africa country since twin car bombs detonated near a busy market intersection in October 2022, which resulted in at least 100 fatalities and 300 injuries.
In addition to the civilian casualties at the beach restaurant, one soldier was killed during the assault, according to police spokesperson Abdifatah Aden. One of the attackers detonated a suicide bomb, while three others were killed by security forces. Another attacker was captured alive, Aden added.
Although al Shabaab has not yet claimed responsibility for the explosion, the al Qaeda-linked group has been behind similar attacks in the past, including the 2022 car bombings.
Hassan Farah, a survivor, recounted the harrowing experience: “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 lightning 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.”
By Saturday morning, the beach was littered with sandals and shoes left behind by people fleeing the scene.
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre convened with security agencies following the attack and devised plans to bolster the city’s security, as stated by the president’s office in a post on X.
“The government is determined to eliminate the terrorists. The terrorists want to terrify the civilians. Let the civilians report the terrorists hiding among them,” the post read. The Somali government typically uses the term “terrorist” to refer to al Shabaab, though without directly naming the group.
Al Shabaab, which once controlled large areas of Somalia, has been pushed back by government counteroffensives since 2022. However, the militants continue to conduct significant attacks on government, commercial, and military targets.