Al-Shabaab attacks on Mogadishu beach kill 37

Mogadishu: An Al-Shabaab suicide bomber and gunmen attacked a popular beach in the Somali capital Mogadishu, killing 37 people and wounding dozens more, authorities said Saturday, in one of the deadliest strikes in the East African country in months.

Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists have been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government for more than 17 years and have previously targeted Lido Beach, popular with businesspeople and government officials.

Survivors of Friday’s attack described how, after the explosion, gunmen stormed the beach with the intention of “killing everyone they could”, with a graphic video shared online immediately afterwards showing bloodied bodies on the sand.

“The total number of deaths we have confirmed is 37,” Somali Health Minister Ali Haji Adam said in a press statement Saturday evening.

Eleven people are in intensive care units, 64 others remain in hospital with injuries, while 137 people with minor injuries have been released after receiving treatment, he said.

The attack, which Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for in a post on a pro-Shabaab website, began Friday night when a suicide bomber detonated a device and gunmen stormed the area.

Officer Mohamed Omar told AFP that members of the group had “shot at civilians at random”.

He said security forces ended the attack and killed five gunmen, while a sixth member of the group “blew himself up on the beach.”

Police spokesman Abdifatah Adan Hassan said the attack demonstrated that the group was not only targeting government officials and soldiers, but also ordinary civilians.

Witnesses said there were many people at the popular location when the explosion occurred, describing how gunmen then stormed the area.

– “They killed everyone they could” –

“While we were enjoying the beach, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the middle of the crowd on the beach,” Omar Elmi told AFP.

“We could then see many people scattered on the ground, including dead, injured, as well as people in shock,” he said.

Another survivor, Harun Issa Wehliye, said one of his best friends was killed in the blast.

“After that, four armed men came and started shooting. They killed everyone they could,” he told AFP.

Other witnesses gave similar accounts, with Hawo Mohamed, who lives near the scene, saying at least seven people he knew died in the attack.

“The devastation is immense and there is blood and pieces of human flesh littering the scene,” he told AFP.

Hospitals have appealed for blood donations following the influx of injured people, local media reported.

Mahad Abdiaziz Ibrahim waited in a long line to donate blood, telling AFP it was “the best thing” he could do.

“I donate my blood to help those who desperately need it.”

– Lido beach hit again –

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 called the attack in a statement a “barbaric atrocity fundamentally contradictory to the values ​​dear to our religion and culture.”

Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for numerous bombings and attacks in Mogadishu and other parts of Somalia, where the government is continuing an offensive against the Islamist militants.

Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairperson of the African Union executive commission, expressed his condolences to the victims in a tweet calling the incident “horrific” and “insensitive.”

The UN in Somalia called the attack “a heinous act that deserves the strongest condemnation.”

The Lido area has been the target of previous attacks, including a six-hour siege by Al-Shabaab on a beachfront hotel in 2023 that left six civilians dead and 10 injured.

Five people were killed when a powerful car bomb exploded at a cafe in the capital last month.

In March, militants killed three people and wounded 27 others during an hours-long siege around another Mogadishu hotel, ending a relative lull in fighting.