An al-Shabaab suicide bomber and gunmen attacked a busy beach in the Somali capital Mogadishu killing at least 32 people and wounding scores more, the police said on Saturday, in one of the deadliest strikes in the East African country in months.
The al-Qaeda-linked jihadists have been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government for more than 17 years and have previously targeted the Lido beach area, popular with business people and officials.
Unverified videos shared online in the immediate aftermath of the attack late on Friday showed people scattering along a street, with a number of clips purporting showing bloodied bodies lying on the beachfront.
“More than 32 civilians died in this attack and about 63 others were wounded, some of them critically,” the police spokesman said.
The assault, for which al-Shabaab claimed responsibility in a post on a pro-Shabaab website, began when a suicide bomber detonated a device and gunmen stormed the area.
Officer Mohamed Omar said members of the group had “shot civilians randomly”.
He said security forces had ended the attack and killed five gunmen, while a sixth member of the group “blew himself (up) at the beach”.
Witnesses said there were many people at the popular location when the explosion occurred.
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