Deadly suicide bombing in Somali capital

A security guard has died while fending off suicide bombers who were trying to storm into a popular Mogadishu restaurant.

Yusuf Abdi said on Saturday that security guards at the gate of The Village restaurant shot at the two suicide bombers who tried to enter without going through the security check.

Abdi said the bombers detonated their explosives, killing the guard. The two bombers and a civilian were also killed, reported the local Mareeg news website. The blast shattered the restaurant’s glass windows and punctured the tires of luxury cars parked outside.

“The bombers were shot dead before they reached their target by the security guards during a shootout,” said Abdullah Hassan Barise, the spokesman of Somali police who was in the cafe at the time of the attack, reported the news website.

“Our forces were standing guard near the gate of the cafe, the suicide bombers were denied access to the cafe and immediately they blew themselves up,” said Barise.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack reported the website, however the attack was likely carried out by the extremist rebels of al-Shabab which has been fighting the Somali government for nearly five years. 

Africa Union forces pushed the al-Qaeda affiliated group out of Mogadishu in August 2011, but the rebels continue to carry out suicide attacks in the capital.