Two Dead and Five Injured in Suicide Bombing in Mogadishu

At least two people were killed and five others injured in a suicide bombing that targeted a café in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Thursday. The attack was claimed by the extremist group Al-Shabaab, according to a police source and eyewitnesses. The suicide bomber detonated his explosive belt inside a café frequented particularly by Somali security forces. The attack, which occurred at sunset, resulted in the deaths of two security personnel and injuries to five others, as reported by police officer Mohamed Ali, who was at the scene of the blast. Eyewitness Abd al-Qadir Saqala stated that the explosion caused "metal fragments and pieces of plastic chairs to scatter everywhere." The extremist group Al-Shabaab, linked to al-Qaeda, quickly claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement published by its news agency, Shebab, as reported by the SITE monitoring group. Al-Shabaab militants, who have been fighting the Somali government for years, regularly carry out attacks against government and civilian targets in Mogadishu. In July, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed at least ten people and injured dozens in a crowded café in Mogadishu. Al-Shabaab fighters controlled the Somali capital for some time before being ousted in 2011 by an African Union force, but the militants still control vast rural areas of the country.