Al Shabaab militants bomb Somali beach restaurant, gunfight ongoing

Al Shabaab militants attacked a beach restaurant in the capital Mogadishu with a car bomb and a gunfight was still ongoing, police and the group said on Thursday.

“A car bomb exploded at Banadir beach restaurant at Lido beach and there is exchange of gunfire. We have no other details so far,” Major Ahmed Ibrahim, a police officer, told Reuters.

Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.

“We attacked the Banadir beach restaurant and now our fighters are fighting inside it,” Abdiasis Abu Musab, its military operation spokesman, told Reuters.