Symbol of resurgence turns to scene of grief
Families mourn about 20 killed in attack of Somali beach eatery
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Among the survivors of al-Shabab’s attack on a beachside restaurant in Somalia’s capital was Mohamed Abdiqani Kheyre. He is 3 years old, and his mother was killed.
Witnesses said members of the al-Qaida-linked group shouted “Allahu akbar,” Arabic for “God is great,” as they opened fire Thursday evening.
A party had been taking place when the attack started.
On Friday, relatives were identifying the dead, who numbered around 20. The bodies were laid out on the sand, their heads covered by yellow tablecloths, many soaked with blood.
“They randomly fired at people sitting near the beach before entering the restaurant,” said Ahmed Nur, who was strolling along the shoreline when the attack happened.
The beach, which symbolized the resurgence of Somalia’s capital in recent years with people flocking to the shore and swimming in the Indian Ocean, had become a scene of bottomless grief.
One woman beat her chest, whispering the name of her son who was killed in the attack.
She collapsed as his bloodied body was transported into an ambulance.
The Liido Seafood Restaurant was littered with bloodstained, overturned chairs, tables, shoes and bullet casings. The walls scarred from bullet impacts and blackened with soot.
The attack came a week after al-Shabab overran a Kenyan army base in southwestern Somalia, signaling the group’s resilience despite military setbacks inflicted by a U.S.-backed regional force operating in the country.
Somali Security Minister Abdirizak Omar Mohamed said the suspected leader of the attack has been arrested.
The assault on civilians relaxing along the beachfront echoed an attack by an Islamic extremist at a tourist beach in Tunisia last year.
Several dozen people, mostly Britons, died in that slaughter.
The security forces took control of the restaurant just before dawn, Capt. Mohamed Hussein said from the scene.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack in a broadcast on its online radio late Thursday.
“It’s a sad day, whenever a hope comes up it gets dashed by such attacks. This city’s future is precarious,” said Mumina Ahmed, a Somali-American who returned to Mogadishu last week after 14 years in Virginia.