MOGADISHU, March 6 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A car bomb explosion caused at least 20 deaths and dozens of injured on Friday in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, the authorities reported.
It said 30 others were injured.
The terrorist group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack via radio Andalus.
The suicide car bomb exploded outside the Lul Yemeni restaurant, a popular place among government officials and civilians. The terrorist said on the radio that they had attacked the official’s meeting point.
The explosion took place during dinner time, with the restaurant full of people. In the blast’s aftermath, a building near the restaurant collapse as the authorities still search for residents among the rubble.
“The blast was very heavy and caused massive destruction and civilian casualties. The operation is still going on to establish the exact number of casualties,” Security Officer Mohamed Osman told reporters.
The Al Shabaab group has been waging a violent insurgency across the Horn of Africa country.
They were driven out of Mogadishu by government forces backed by 20,000 African Union peacekeepers in 2011.
But the group still controls swathes of territory outside the cities, from where they launch attacks against government targets, as well as occasionally crossing the border to carry out raids in Kenya.
Since 1991, Somalia has had only limited central government and is trying to reconstruct itself with the help of the United Nations. — NNN-AGENCIES