MOGADISHU: The death toll from a blast at a cafe in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu has climbed to nine, security sources told AFP Monday, after a car bomb struck the venue packed with football fans watching the Euro 2024 final.
“Nine civilians were killed, and 20 others wounded in the explosion,” Mohamed Yusuf, an official from the national security agency said, raising the official toll of five given by the authorities late Sunday.
“There were many people inside the restaurant, most of them youth who were watching the football match… but thanks to God, most of them made their way out safely after using ladders to climb up and jump over the backside perimeter wall,” he said.
Images posted online showed a huge fireball and plumes of smoke billowing into the night sky as the explosion ripped through the popular restaurant in the centre of the city on Sunday.
Police officer Mohamed Salad rushed to the scene a few minutes after the blast and told AFP that several bodies were discovered under the debris.
“Five people died outside the building and on the main road including drivers of vehicles that were passing by the area”, he said.
“Four people died inside the restaurant, some of them removed from under the debris,” he added.
No group claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the state-run Somali National News Agency said Sunday that the attack was carried out by Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab group.
Al-Shabaab has been waging a bloody insurgency against Somalia’s fragile federal government for more than 17 years and has carried out numerous bombings in Mogadishu and other parts of the country.
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