At least 19 dead in Al-Shabaab restaurant attack in Mogadishu

A map showing Lido beach in Mogadishu, Somalia. A car bomb exploded at a restaurant in Lido on January 21, 2016. GRAPHIC | GOOGLE MAPS  

• The Lido beach area in Mogadishu is busy with restaurants, including upmarket establishments popular with business people and diaspora Somali.
• The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab have claimed responsibility for the attack

MOGADISHU

Al-Shabaab militants killed at least 19 people when five gunmen detonated a bomb before storming a popular seaside restaurant in the capital Mogadishu, police said Friday.

"They killed nearly 20 people, including women and children," Somali police officer Mohamed Abdirahman said, describing it as a "barbaric and brutal attack against innocent civilians".

After a huge explosion, gunmen burst into the restaurant on Thursday evening as diners were sitting down for their evening meal.

The Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab have claimed responsibility for the attack, in which four of their gunmen were also killed, and one captured.

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.

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

The Islamists are on a mission to disprove claims they are close to defeat since being routed from Mogadishu in mid-2011 and losing several alleged commanders to US drone strikes.

Last week the insurgents stormed a Kenyan army base in southwest Somalia, in the latest incident of an AU Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) base being overrun by the militants.

Culled from AFP in Daily Nation