Deadly car bombing targets Mogadishu restaurant

At least three people, including a child, were killed on Saturday in a car bomb attack outside a restaurant in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, police and witnesses said.

Armed group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack on its radio station, saying it was targeting government forces who were inside the restaurant, according to the DPA news agency. 

Abdifatah Halane, a spokesman for Banadir province, said that the explosion took place in Mogadishu’s Beyhani district.

“Three civilians were killed and five others injured,” he told the AFP news agency.

A police officer told DPA that non-government soldiers were
harmed in the attack, but a witnesss said all the dead and wounded were civilians. 

The car, which was packed with explosives, was parked just outside the restaurant and produced a massive blast, witnesses told AFP.

“The explosion was enormous … I saw several corpses, including one of a child,” said witness Farhan Mohamed.

READ MORE: What is al-Shabab and what does it want?

Al-Shabab fighters have stepped up deadly attacks in recent months targeting Mogadishu’s most high-profile hotels.

The armed group’s leaders have vowed to bring down the Somali government, which is supported by the international community and defended by the African Union’s 22,000-strong AMISOM mission.