Somalia: Casualties feared as car bomb hits Mogadishu

By Mohammed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) – Several people are feared dead or injured after a car bomb blast has targeted a busy restaurant near Mogadishu seaport on Friday evening, Somali police said.

Police spokesman Sadaq Adan Ali told Anadolu Agency by phone minutes after the explosion that an explosive-laden car hit the restaurant, adding investigations are underway to determine the damage.

However, paramedics reported that there are casualties in the attack.

Somali Information Ministry spokesman Ismail Mukhtar Oronjo said in a statement on Twitter: “A car bomb has exploded outside the Lul Yemeni restaurant near the port city of Mogadishu. Reports from Hamarjajab district in Benadir region say that there were casualties as a result of the blast.”

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack. But Somali-based al-Qaeda affiliated group al-Shabaab had claimed responsibility for several recent attacks in the country.