MOGADISHU: An Al-Shabaab suicide bomber and gunmen stormed a busy beach in the Somali capital Mogadishu, killing 37 people and wounding many others, officials said on Saturday, one of the deadliest recent attacks in the East African country.
The militants have been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government for more than 17 years.
They had previously targeted the Lido beach, popular with businessmen and members of the government.
The attack, which Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for in a post on a pro-Shabaab website, began late Friday when a suicide bomber detonated a device and gunmen stormed the area.
Survivors described how, after the initial explosion, gunmen stormed the beach with the intention of “killing everyone they could”.
A graphic video shared online soon after showed bloodied bodies on the sand.
“The total number of deaths we have confirmed is 37,” Somalia’s Health Minister Ali Haji Adam told reporters late Saturday.
Eleven people are in intensive care units, another 64 people remain in hospital with injuries and 137 people with minor injuries have been released after treatment, he added.
Officer Mohamed Omar told AFP that members of the group were “shooting civilians at random”.
Security forces ended the attack, killing five militants, while a sixth member of the group “detonated himself on the beach”, he added.
Police spokesman Abdifatah Adan Hassan said the attack showed the group was not only targeting government officials and soldiers, but also ordinary civilians.
Survivors said there were many people at the popular spot at the time of the attack.
“While we were enjoying our time on the beach, a suicide bomber blew himself up among the crowds of people on the beach,” Omar Elmi told AFP.
“Then we saw many people scattered on the ground, including dead, injured and also shocked people,” he said.
Another survivor, Harun Issa Wehliye, said one of his best friends was killed in the explosion.
“Then four armed men arrived and started shooting. They killed everyone they could,” he told AFP.
Other witnesses had similar stories. Hawo Mohamed, who lives near the scene, said at least seven people he knew were killed in the attack.
“The devastation is immense and the scene is littered with blood and severed pieces of human flesh,” he told AFP.
After an influx of injured people, hospitals asked for blood donations, local media reported.
Waiting in a long line to donate blood, Mahad Abdiaziz Ibrahim told AFP it was the “best thing” he could do.
“I donate my blood to help those who desperately need it.”
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said on X that he would hold an emergency meeting with the prime minister and “key security officials to resolve the situation.”
Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre described the attack in a statement as “a barbaric atrocity that fundamentally contradicts the cherished values of our religion and culture.”
UN chief Antonio Guterres condemned the “heinous acts of terrorism” and said the organization stood firmly behind Somalia in its fight against “violent extremism”, his spokesman said in a statement.
Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the African Union’s executive commission, expressed his condolences to the victims in a tweet, calling the incident “horrific” and “callous”.
A statement from the Saudi Foreign Ministry condemned the attack and condemned attacks on civilians in particular. She expressed solidarity with the government and condoled with the families of the victims.
