MOGADISHU, Somalia – At least seven people have been killed and six others wounded on Thursday in a suicide explosion at a café popular with police personnel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
The explosion occurred when a man wearing a suicide vest detonated himself at a tea shop within a police academy, leaving seven people dead, including soldiers, according to a witness who asked to remain anonymous.
He said that senior police officials, along with a mother and her daughter, were among those killed in the bomb attack.
“I saw the bodies of six people, including soldiers, a woman, and a child. I also saw six other people with multiple injuries on their bodies. The charred body of the man who blew himself up is still at the blast scene,” he added.
Rescue workers transported all the deceased and injured victims to Medina Hospital, where hundreds of people lined up in a queue to check if their loved ones were among those killed or wounded in the suicide explosion.
In a brief statement, the police confirmed that seven people, including soldiers, were killed and six others were slightly wounded. They added that they would speak to the media as soon as they gather all the necessary details from the blast scene.
Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-linked group, claimed responsibility for the explosion, stating that it killed 15 soldiers, including officers, and wounded 12 others. Mareeg.com could not independently verify the death toll figures.
In Mogadishu, critics and security experts are questioning how an individual wearing an explosives-laden vest managed to pass through security checkpoints and enter a police academy before blowing himself up, resulting in deaths and injuries.
Despite losing control of many towns, the al-Qaeda-linked terror group has intensified its attacks since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud declared an “all-out war” to remove the militant group from Somalia.
Driven out of the capital, Mogadishu, in 2011 by Somali army and African Union troops, the extremist group still carries out deadly attacks. They have been battling for more than a decade to topple the Somali government and establish a strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.
Al Shabaab continues to hold large swaths of territory in the south and central regions, from which it is believed to launch deadly attacks against military bases of Somali National Army forces, African Union peacekeepers, and the capital, Mogadishu.
