Terrorist attack on Somali beach kills 32

Police spokesman Major Abdifatah Adan Hassa said one soldier was killed in the attack and the rest were civilians. Another soldier was also wounded in the attack.

In addition to the civilians killed, Mr. Aden said one of the attackers detonated a suicide vest, while three others were killed by security forces. One attacker was captured alive.

The Islamist extremist group al Shabaab, the East African branch of al Qaeda, said its fighters carried out the attack.

An ambulance carries the body of a person killed in an explosion on Lido beach in Mogadishu, Somalia. Photo: Reuters

A witness named Hassan Farah described the terrifying moment when the explosion suddenly happened on a peaceful evening. "I was in the restaurant sipping coffee and chatting happily with friends when I saw a big man running towards me, at that moment there was something like a flash of lightning and a loud bang," he recounted.

“We were surrounded by smoke. Inside and outside the restaurant, many people were lying on the floor while others were bleeding and crying.” Videos posted on social media X showed many bodies lying on the beach in the dark, while people ran away.

Lido Beach, a popular area in Mogadishu, is always crowded on Friday nights as Somalis enjoy the weekend.

Another witness, Mohamud Moalim, said he saw the attacker wearing an explosive vest just before he “blew himself up next to the hotel overlooking the beach”. Moalim said several of his friends who were staying with him at the hotel were killed.

Another witness, Abdisalam Adam, said he saw many people lying on the ground and he helped take some of the injured to hospital.

It was the deadliest attack in the Horn of Africa nation since October 2022, when two car bombs exploded near a busy market intersection, killing at least 100 people and wounding 300. The al Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Lido beach area has previously been targeted by militants allied to al Shabaab, with the most recent attack last year killing nine people.

Former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said on his X account: "The fact that the terrorist attack happened at a time when the beach was most crowded shows the terrorists' hostility towards the Somali people."

Al Shabaab controlled large swathes of Somalia before being pushed back in government counteroffensives since 2022. However, the militant group still has the ability to carry out significant attacks on government, commercial and military targets.

Hoai Phuong (according to Reuters, AP)

Source: https://www.congluan.vn/tan-cong-khung-bo-o-bai-bien-somalia-32-nguoi-thiet-mang-post306169.html