Captain Aden Osman, a senior police officer in the capital, exploded a car with explosives around 8 p.m. local time (12 p.m. ET), Captain Aden Osman, a senior police officer in the capital, confirmed to CNN.
The blast was followed by heavy gunfire.
The powerful explosion caused widespread destruction of several buildings and business centers in the area, Osman added. Aamin’s ambulance services confirmed that 30 people were injured in the bomb blast and rushed to local hospitals.
“Plumes of white smoke cover the city after the huge explosion followed by gunfire,” witness Liban Yusuf said, adding that a building near the site collapsed and a rescue operation was underway to rescue people trapped in the rubble. vacate.
The terrorist group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack through a statement posted on its affiliate websites.
This is the second attack on the same restaurant since August 2020. The latest explosion comes amid strict security measures in Mogadishu during a political crisis over a delayed election. The country’s president, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo,’s mandate expired on February 8, without timely elections being held.
Al-Shabaab was pushed out of the Somali capital by the Somali and African Union in 2011, but the Islamic group carried out car bombings and gun attacks in the coastal city.