Car bomb attack on Mogadishu cafe kills at least nine

A car bomb exploded outside a crowded cafe due to the broadcast of the Euro 2024 final. Authorities blamed the attack on the al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab, a radical Islamist rebel group.

Nine people were killed and 20 others injured on Sunday evening, July 14, in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, in the explosion of a car bomb in front of a crowded cafe due to the broadcast of the Euro-2024 final, according to a new report given to AFP on Monday by security sources.

Authorities blamed the attack on the al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab, radical Islamist rebels who have been fighting the government by regularly carrying out such attacks against security, political and civilian targets. “We have confirmed that at least nine civilians were killed and 20 others injured in the explosion.”Mohamed Yusuf, an official with the national security agency, told AFP.

“Five people died outside the building and on the main road, including drivers of vehicles passing through the area, and four others inside the restaurant.”Mohamed Salad, a Somali police officer, told AFP. A previous report put the death toll at five.

Images posted online showed a huge fireball and plumes of smoke rising into the night sky as the explosion ripped through the popular city centre establishment.

“A car bomb exploded this (Sunday) evening in front of the Top Coffee restaurant… Placed by Kharijite terrorists”assured the national news agency Sonna, the voice of the authorities, on Sunday evening, using the term used by the latter to designate the shebab.

The al-Shabaab group has carried out numerous bombings and other attacks in Mogadishu and several parts of the volatile Horn of Africa country in the past. Although they were driven out of the capital by African Union (AU) forces in 2011, the rebels still have a strong presence in rural areas.