Somalis reacted with grief and defiance on Friday after a bomb and gun assault by al-Shabaab militants on a popular beachfront restaurant in Mogadishu left at least 17 dead and dozens wounded.
The attack on Thursday evening saw a car bomb detonated near the entrance of the Beach View cafe at the Lido beach, a favourite haunt for young Somalis, before up to six gunmen stormed the beach spraying bullets in all directions.
The dead included several young university students celebrating their recent graduation, a pregnant woman and a child. The gunmen barricaded themselves in the restaurant and traded fire with the police until the early hours of Friday.
“The operation ended at 3am last night and at least 17 civilians were killed,” police officer Osman Nur told Reuters. Many of the wounded were rushed to the Daaru Shifa hospital where doctors struggled to cope with the large number of patients.
The Lido beach, on the northern outskirts of Mogadishu, was a hugely symbolic target. It had become a symbol of renewal and hope in the Somali capital, serving as a magnet for investment by diaspora Somalis who have taken advantage of the relative peace the city has known in recent years and constructed several hotels and cafeterias in the area.
Thousands of Somalis gather on the white sandy beaches most evenings to have coffee and catch up or swim in the ocean waters, activities which were unthinkable in previous years.
But al-Shabaab, which was pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union troops in 2011, often criticised the beach activities as un-Islamic in radio broadcasts.
On Friday, as relatives attempted to identify the dead, a social media campaign using the hashtag #tweetliidopictures was launched, with dozens of contributors saying they would defy al-Shabaab and continue visiting the area.
Somalis reacted with grief and defiance on Friday after a bomb and gun assault by al-Shabaab militants on a popular beachfront restaurant in Mogadishu left at least 17 dead and dozens wounded.
The attack on Thursday evening saw a car bomb detonated near the entrance of the Beach View cafe at the Lido beach, a favourite haunt for young Somalis, before up to six gunmen stormed the beach spraying bullets in all directions.
The dead included several young university students celebrating their recent graduation, a pregnant woman and a child. The gunmen barricaded themselves in the restaurant and traded fire with the police until the early hours of Friday.
“The operation ended at 3am last night and at least 17 civilians were killed,” police officer Osman Nur told Reuters. Many of the wounded were rushed to the Daaru Shifa hospital where doctors struggled to cope with the large number of patients.
The Lido beach, on the northern outskirts of Mogadishu, was a hugely symbolic target. It had become a symbol of renewal and hope in the Somali capital, serving as a magnet for investment by diaspora Somalis who have taken advantage of the relative peace the city has known in recent years and constructed several hotels and cafeterias in the area.
Thousands of Somalis gather on the white sandy beaches most evenings to have coffee and catch up or swim in the ocean waters, activities which were unthinkable in previous years.
But al-Shabaab, which was pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union troops in 2011, often criticised the beach activities as un-Islamic in radio broadcasts.
On Friday, as relatives attempted to identify the dead, a social media campaign using the hashtag #tweetliidopictures was launched, with dozens of contributors saying they would defy al-Shabaab and continue visiting the area.
No one can stop us now..!! Our beautiful Lido beach #TweetLiidoPictures pic.twitter.com/uXQt9EZZQc
— Shariif (@ShariifMoalim) January 23, 2016
Al-Shabaab has lost control of major urban centres in Somalia but has waged a deadly insurgency campaign, killingscores of Kenyan soldiers in a recent attack on one of their forward bases and launching occasional bombings in Mogadishu.
Until Thursday, most of those attacks had focused on hotels popular with MPs and government officials but the group’s deadly campaign expanded to Lido beach just after sunset, at the busiest time of day for restaurants on the beach.
Ali-Bashe Abbdullahi Abdi, director of Mustakbal Radio, told the BBC he had gone to meet with fellow journalists at a local restaurant after evening prayers and had only been there for 30 minutes when the first bomb went off and the gunmen rushed in.
“I saw some people jumping from the second floor. Bullets were flying all over the place, and there was another explosion. Then everyone got confused.
“I personally saw three wounded people. I did not see those who have been harmed by the explosions. I think the car was parked near the main door of the restaurant,” he said.
Witnesses described scenes of mayhem as the gunmen, who were shouting “Allahu Akbar”, searched for potential victims from room to room, with many diners taking refuge in the women’s toilet.
Somalia’s security minister, Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, said four of the gunmen had been killed and one captured alive. The police said they managed to rescue hundreds of revellers and escorted them to safety.
Source: theguardian
