Islamist gunmen kill 17 in Somalia beach restaurant

At least five people were killed, seven others injured, in suicide attacks at a restaurant located at the Liddo Beach in Mogadishu, Somalia, local police confirmed. The al-Qaida-linked group said it had killed about 100 Kenyans, but the Kenyan government has given no death toll.

Witnesses said the gunmen shouted “Allahu akbar”, the Arabic phrase for “God is great”, and entered the restaurant, AP reported.

“More and more security forces are now going into the restaurant”.

The Lido beach area is home to several restaurants, which are usually full on Thursday nights – the start of the weekend in Somalia.

Somali police officer Mohamed Abdirahman said at least 19 people were killed, including women and children.

“It’s a sad day, whenever a hope comes up it gets dashed by such attacks”, said Mumina Ahmed.

“The government forces rescued hundreds of civilians who were dining there”, he told state-run Radio Muqdisho.

Abdulkadir Mohamed Somow, who survived the attack, said, “I was intending to go out, but suddenly we heard a heavy explosion, followed by gunfire”. They want to defeat al-Shabab and keep the group from spreading its radical Islamic ideology to their country.

However, today they’ve been anchored in the water while armed guards patrol the beach and distraught relatives pick up the dead from the bloodied restaurant.

Lido beach hotels and restaurants are popular with government officials and entrepreneurs.

The first vehicle bomb went off around dusk, police said, before the second blast about an hour later.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for an attack last week on Kenyan peacekeepers in southwestern Somalia.

In the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, President Uhuru Kenyatta told a memorial service for the fallen soldiers that Kenyan troops would stay in Somalia despite the attack.

“These barbaric attacks carried out by the terrorists Al- Shabaab” are aimed at undermining Somalia’s socio-economic development, Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke said in an e-mailed statement condemning the assault.