A suicide bomb attack inside a restaurant in Mogadishu has claimed three lives and left others with severe injuries.
Al Jazeera reports that the Somali government said the attacker blew himself up on Wednesday at the Blue Sky restaurant near the National Theatre in Mogadishu.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Information, Ismail Mukhtar, disclosed that a child was among the victims. Seven others sustained injuries, he said.
“The target of the suicide bomber was civilians sitting at the restaurant. He walked [among] them and detonated himself, killing three civilians and wounding seven,” Mukhtar said.
“I was walking towards the location when the blast occurred and instantly got to the incident scene. Among the dead was a very young child.”
No one claims responsibility
The Somali capital, Mogadishu, has been subjected to several attacks in recent months, often led by Islamist Al-Shabaab militants.
The al-Qaeda-linked armed group has repeatedly carried out attacks on civilians and the government.
However, the group and its affiliates are yet to claim responsibility for Wednesday’s suicide attack.
The security forces have since cordoned off the Blue Sky restaurant and suspended movement temporarily in the area.
“The blast was very heavy. I saw people rushed to hospital. Some of them were seriously wounded,” said an eyewitness, Kasim Ali.
Similar attack in Kismayo
The blast comes just days after a similar suicide bomb attack killed five Somali soldiers at a village outside the southern port city of Kismayo.
An American military advisor was caught up in the explosion on Monday and sustained severe injuries in the process.
Another bomb attack by Shabaab fighters in August killed ten civilians and a police officer at an upscale beachfront hotel in the capital.
The militant group has been seeking to oust the Somali government and instate its own leadership.
However, the militants have been driven out of Mogadishu by Somali troops backed by soldiers from the African Union.
E A Alanore
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