Militants Kill At Least 17 In Attack On Somali Beachfront Restaurant

Officials said the gunmen wanted to kill more civilians but the security forces rescued most of the people.

The beach is busy with restaurants and popular with business people. “I saw a militant fighter shooting indiscriminately on everybody”. The Kenyan government has given no death toll, but said there were some fatalities. After the first explosion, gunmen reportedly burst into the restaurant as diners were sitting down for their evening meal.

One of the attackers was captured alive.

“The lights at Lido Seafood have just been switched off. Heavy gunfire is now ongoing”, Abdirizak Mohamud, a freelance journalist at the scene, said.

In conclusion PM Sharmarke praised the security forces who saved many lives and limited the damage intended by the terrorist group. “They have pulled out three injured people so far”, Mohamud added.

A Somali man cries next to dead bodies lying on the Lido beach following an overnight attack on the beachfront Lido seafood restaurant in Mogadishu on January 22, 2016.

Government spokesman Abdisalam Aato said that the situation was now under control.

Though al-Shabaab was pushed out of key towns in South and Central Somalia, the group has been able to hit high-profile targets in Mogadishu’s heavily fortified areas, including the national courts, the United Nations compound, the Turkish embassy, and popular gathering places. The spokesman said the attack was ongoing.

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. Their ranks have been depleted by a multinational African Union force fighting the insurgents in southern and central parts of the country.