Agencies
Mogadishu
At least 32 people have been killed and many more wounded in a suicide bombing and gun attack on a popular beach in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, according to officials.
Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked armed group, claimed responsibility for the attack on Lido Beach late on Friday via an affiliated radio station.
The assault began when a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance of Beach View Hotel. Several other attackers tried to storm the hotel and also fired on people on the beach, where many residents were walking or sitting, according to witnesses and police.
"More than 32 civilians died in this attack, and about 63 others were wounded, some of them critically,” police spokesman Abdifatah Adan Hassan told reporters, increasing the initial death toll from seven.
He said security forces had killed all the attackers at the scene and captured another one who was driving a car filled with explosives. One soldier was killed and another sustained injuries, he added.
Al-Shabab has been fighting to topple the fragile central government in Mogadishu for more than 17 years.