By Our Correspondent
Mogadishu, Somalia: An Al-Shabaab suicide bomber and gunmen attacked a busy beach in the Somali capital Mogadishu killing 37 people and wounding scores more, officials said on Saturday, in one of the deadliest strikes in the East African country in months.
The Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists have been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government for more than 17 years and have previously targeted the Lido beach area, popular with business people and government members.
Survivors of Friday’s assault described how following the blast gunmen stormed onto the beach intending to “kill everyone they could”, with graphic video shared online immediately after showing bloodied bodies on the sand.
“The overall number of the dead people we confirmed is 37,” Somali Health Minister Ali Haji Adam said in a press statement late Saturday.
Eleven people are in intensive care units, a further 64 people remain in hospital with wounds, while 137 people with light injuries had been discharged after receiving treatment, he said.
The assault, for which Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility in a post on a pro-Shabaab website, began late on Friday when a suicide bomber detonated a device and gunmen stormed the area.
Officer Mohamed Omar said that members of the group had “shot civilians randomly”.
He said security forces had ended the attack and killed five gunmen, while a sixth member of the group “blew himself (up) at the beach”.
Police spokesperson Abdifatah Adan Hassan said the attack demonstrated the group was not only targeting government officials and soldiers, but ordinary civilians as well.
Witnesses said there were many people at the popular location when the explosion occurred, describing how gunmen then stormed the area.
“As we were enjoying our time on the beach, a suicide bomber blew himself up among crowds of people on the beach,” Omar Elmi said.
“Then we could see many people scattered on the ground, including dead, injured, as well as shocked people,” he said.
Another survivor, Harun Issa Wehliye, said one of his best friends had been killed in the explosion.
“After that, four armed men arrived and started shooting. They killed everyone they could,” he told AFP.
Other witnesses had similar tales, with Hawo Mohamed, who lives near the scene, saying at least seven people he knew had died in the attack.
“The devastation is immense and there is blood and severed pieces of human flesh strewn in the scene,” he said.
Hospitals appealed for blood donations following the influx of wounded people, local media reported.
Mahad Abdiaziz Ibrahim was waiting in a long queue to donate blood, explaining to us it was “the best thing” he could do.
“I am donating my blood to help those who are in desperate need.”
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said on X that he would hold an emergency meeting with the prime minister and “key security officials to address the situation”.
Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre described the attack in a statement as a “barbaric atrocity fundamentally contradictory to the cherished values of our religion and culture”.
Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for numerous bombings and attacks in Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia, whose government is pursuing an offensive against the Islamist militants.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union’s executive commission, expressed condolences for the victims in a tweet labelling the incident “horrific” and “callous”.
The UN in Somalia called the attack “an abhorrent act that warrants the firmest condemnation”.
The Lido area has been the target of previous attacks, including a six-hour Al-Shabaab siege of a beachside hotel in 2023 which left six civilians dead and 10 wounded.
Five people were killed in a powerful car bomb blast at a cafe in the capital last month.
In March, militants killed three people and wounded 27 in an hours-long siege of another Mogadishu hotel, breaking a relative lull in the fighting.
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