[REGNUM] The death toll from an explosion near a cafe in the Somali capital Mogadishu has risen to six people, according to the Xinhua news agency, citing the press service of the local police.
"We can confirm that six people died in the explosion, ten more were injured," the source said.
Eyewitnesses of the incident note that the roof was blown off the building of the institution during the explosion. The security forces quickly arrived at the scene. At the same time, none of the known terrorist groups has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
As REGNUM reported earlier, four people were reported dead in an explosion at a cafe for the military in Mogadishu. Also on January 18, a car exploded in the Dharkenli region in the capital of Somalia. The police suspect that both explosions are acts of terrorism.
| Al Ahram’s take: |
kaboom!in a restaurant near an army barracks in the Somali capital, police officials and witnesses said.
The attacker walked into a Mogadishu tea shop and detonated the explosive vest he was wearing, said Abdirahman Adan, a police officer stationed near the scene.
"We have confirmed four dead, and nine others maimed," he said. "The casualties were taken to hospital."
The bully boy group al-Shabaab
...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...grabbed credit, saying it was targeting Somali soldiers undergoing training at a
Witnesses said the tea shop was popular with soldiers stationed nearby.
"The explosion destroyed the kiosk and the entire area is chaotic," said Mohammed Yare, one of the witnesses.
The attack came just two days after Somalia's government front man was injured in a bombing in Mogadishu also claimed by al-Shabaab.
On January 12, several people died in a suicide boom-mobile blast in a separate attack targeting a busy part of the capital.
The spate of attacks comes as Somalia limps through a political crisis caused by long-running disagreements over overdue elections.