At least 32 killed in terror attack on busy Somalia beach

MOGADISHU – An Al-Shabaab suicide bomber and gunmen attacked a busy beach in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, killing at least 32 people and wounding scores more in one of the deadliest attacks in months, police said on Aug 3.

The Al-Qaeda-linked militants have been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government for more than 17 years and had previously targeted the Lido beach area, popular with business people and officials.

Unverified videos shared online in the immediate aftermath of the attack showed people scattering along a street, with a number of clips purporting to show bloodied bodies lying on the beachfront.

“More than 32 civilians died in this attack and about 63 others were wounded, some of them critically,” police spokesman Abdifatah Adan Hassan told reporters.

“Targeting and blasting to kill 32 members from the civilian population means these Kharijites are not going to target only government centres, soldiers and officials,” he said, using the term adopted by Somali officials to describe Al-Shabaab.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre met the country’s security agencies after the attack and drew up plans to strengthen the city’s security, the President’s office said in a post on X.

The assault, for which Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility in a post on a pro-Al-Shabaab website, began late on Aug 2. A suicide bomber detonated a device and gunmen stormed the area, police and witnesses said.

They “shot civilians randomly”, said officer Mohamed Omar.

He added that security forces ended the attack and killed five gunmen, while a sixth member of the group “blew himself (up) at the beach”.

Witnesses said there were many people at the beach when the explosion occurred, describing how gunmen then stormed the area.

Mr Hawo Mohamed, who lives near the scene, said at least seven people he knew died in the attack.

“The devastation is immense, and there is blood and severed pieces of human flesh strewn at the scene,” he added.

Witness Abdilatif Ali said: “Everybody panicked and it was hard to know what was happening because shooting started soon after the blast.”

He added that people attempted to take cover on the ground or flee.

“I saw many people strewn (on the ground) and some were dead and others wounded,” he said.

Mr Ahmed Yare witnessed the attack unfold from a nearby hotel.

“I saw wounded people at the beachside. People were screaming in panic and it was hard to notice who was dead and who was still alive,” he said.

Hospitals appealed for blood donations, the local media reported. Mr Abdulkhaliq Osman, head of the health section of the Kalkaal hospital, told reporters it received scores of injured people.

“Eleven of them were transferred to the operations unit for critical injuries, and those with light injuries were sent home after receiving the necessary medical assistance,” he said.

Mr Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union Commission, expressed condolences for the victims in a tweet, labelling the incident “horrific” and “callous”.

Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for numerous bombings and attacks in Mogadishu and other parts of the country, whose government is pressing on with an offensive against the Islamist militants.

The Lido area has been the target of previous attacks.

A six-hour Al-Shabaab siege of a beachside hotel in 2023

left six civilians dead and 10 wounded.

Five people were killed in a powerful car bomb blast at a cafe in the capital in July.

In March, the militants killed three people and wounded 27 others in an hours-long siege of another Mogadishu hotel, breaking a relative lull in the fighting. AFP