Al-Shabaab attack restaurant in Mogadishu

An unknown number of people were wounded or killed.

Two auto bombs exploded Thursday near cafés in the center of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, causing extensive damage, security sources said.

With elections expected for 2016, can Somalia build a government that will eradicate or reconcile with Al-Shabab? or will 2016 lead to another power vacuum.

Led by the United Nations, they termed the attack cowardly, saying terrorism will not be allowed to continue to wreck havoc in the country and the region. The restaurants and beach were packed with people.

“We heard a heavy explosion followed by gunfire”, said Mohamed Somow, an eyewitness who hid in a toilet in the restaurant when the attack started.

Kenya has so far declined to say how many of its soldiers are dead, injured or missing but a Shebab statement said that more than 100 Kenyan soldiers were killed and others captured.

The Somali armed insurgent group, al-Shabaab, which is considered a terrorist organization by the US and has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda, has claimed responsibility of the attack. The beach front restaurants are also very popular with government officials, aid workers and foreign visitors.

The Beach View and Lido Sea Food restaurants were hit, Abdirahman Koronto from the BBC’s Somali service reports.

Somalia’s Prime Minister urged the public to remain calm and called the attack on a civilian target was a desperate move by a group facing annihilation.

Last week, Al-Shabaab militants staged a deadly attack on an African Union base in southwestern Somalia. Security forces managed to get inside to get rid of the attackers. I saw a militant fighter shooting indiscriminately at everybody. The militant group was ousted from Mogadishu in August 2011, but still has a presence in large areas of southern Somalia.