Over 20 killed as Somali forces end siege of restaurant

“A auto bomb exploded at the entrance of Beach View Cafe at Lido beach”, Major Abdiqadir Ali, a senior police officer, told Reuters.

Initial reports suggest at least five people have been killed, although officials say they “cannot know” exactly how many casualties there are.

Abdulkadir Mohamed Somow, who survived the attack, said, “I was intending to go out, but suddenly we heard a heavy explosion, followed by gunfire”.

“Our security forces are in control of the restaurant”.

Government forces fought a gunbattle with the the attackers, who were identified as members of the Al-Shabaab terror group. “A good number of people were seated around me, there was a wedding ceremony at the hall of the restaurant”.

The al-Shabaab group told the media outlet it was responsible for the attack, which was still continuing.

“The operation (to dislodge the attackers) is ongoing now”.

A suicide vehicle bomber and gunmen on Thursday attacked a beachside restaurant in the capital of Somalia, a country that’s no stranger to such bloody attacks.

Kenya has so far refused to say how many of its soldiers were killed, injured or remain missing.

The Al-Qaida-linked Shebab claimed responsibility for the attack, in which four of their gunmen were also killed, and one captured.

The area where the explosions occurred is reportedly quite crowded generally and popular among government officials.

Al-Shabaab, a militant group aligned with al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the assault. The beach is busy with restaurants and popular with business people.