MOGADISHU, Somalia – Four people have been killed and 7 others injured in suicide car bomb explosion in heart of Somali capital Mogadishu.
The explosion went off after car laden with explosives targeted Italian restuarant at busy Maka Al Mukarama road in Mogadishu.
The explosion was claimed by Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab group, battling Western-backed government of Somalia.
The group says one of its suicide bombers blew himself up at restuarant popular with government staff members.
“We have carried out Sunday’s explosion. One of our fighters targeted goverment workers at restuarant. We killed scores of workers”, the group said.
Most of the victims of Sunday’s explosion are said to be civilians, who gathered at restuarant, according to police officer Mohamed Mohamud.
The Al-Shabab has been waging an insurgency in Somalia for more than 10 years.
A 22,000-strong African Union force is in the country to help the government fight the al-Qaeda-linked militants.
The group has been driven out of many urban areas since 2011, however it still controls territory in rural areas and carries out gun attacks and bombings on military and civilian targets.
