MOGADISHU: As many as 37 persons died and over 200 others suffered injuries in an attack on a beach hotel in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, last evening.
Al-Qaida’s East Africa affiliate, al-Shabab, said through its radio station that its fighters carried out the attack.
Police spokesperson Maj Abdifatah Adan Hassan said a soldier was killed in the attack while the remaining were civilians. Another soldier was also injured in the attack. Witnesses reported an explosion followed by gunfire.
Lido Beach, a popular area in Mogadishu, is bustling on Friday nights as Somalis enjoy their weekend.
A witness, Mohamud Moalim, said he saw an attacker wearing an explosive vest moments before the man “blew himself up next to the beach-view hotel.” Moalim said some of his friends, who were with him at the hotel, were killed and others were wounded.
Another witness, Abdisalam Adam, said he “saw many people lying on the ground” and helped take some injured people to the hospital.
The Lido Beach area has in the past been targeted by militants allied to al-Shabab. The most recent attack last year killed nine people.
In a separate attack on Saturday, state media reported that seven people died after a passenger vehicle hit a roadside bomb some 40 kilometres from the capital.