30 dead in attacks on Mogadishu restaurants

MOGADISHU: At least 30 people were killed and 35 wounded when fighters from the terrorist group Al Shabaab attacked two popular restaurants in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, security sources and police said on Thursday.

A suicide car bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the Posh Treats restaurant and hotel late on Wednesday.

At least five armed attackers then stormed Posh Treats and the neighbouring Pizza House cafe firing machine guns, security officials and witnesses said.

At least eight people, including six girls, were killed inside Pizza House, while at least three others were killed inside Posh Treats, police officer Ali Hassan said.

Four security force members were killed while fighting the attackers at Pizza House, said security sources who did not want to be named. Six attackers were also killed.

The details about the others killed remained unclear.

“Blood splattered across my clothes, and I had a piece of flesh on me, as people sitting around me were either dead or wounded,” Said Yare, a customer of Pizza House restaurant, said.

“There was blood everywhere, bodies everywhere in and outside of the restaurant,” Yare added.

A guest at Posh Treats, Olad Ahmed, said: “I heard a large explosion and found myself lying under a table... A girl next to me was dead.” The siege, which started at about 1700 GMT on Wednesday, lasted 10 hours, according to police. — dpa