MOGADISHU (Reuters) – At least 20 people have been killed and 30 injured by a suicide car bomb right in front of a restaurant near the port in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday afternoon, an official said. emergency.
The blast sent plumes of smoke into the sky and caused gunfire, witnesses and public media reported.
“So far we have taken 20 people dead and 30 injured from the scene of the explosion,” Dr. Abdulkadir Aden, founder of Aambinance AAMIN services, told Reuters.
The blast occurred at the Yemeni restaurant Luul, near the port, witnesses said.
“An overcrowded car exploded in the Yemeni restaurant Luul. I was going to the restaurant, but I ran when the explosion shook and covered the area with smoke, ”resident Ahmed Abdullahi, who lives near the site, told Reuters.
Mogadishu radio, controlled by the state of Somalia, reported that there was also destruction of property and that police had cordoned off the area.
No one was responsible for the blast.
The Islamist group in the Shabaab often carries out these bombings in Somalia and elsewhere as part of its campaign to overthrow the Horn of the central government of the African country and establish its own government based on its strict interpretation of Islamic law. sharia.
Abdi Sheikh Reports; writing of Elias Biryabarema; edition by Grant McCool