Bombers destroy Mogadishu eaterie

Published on 21/09/2012 00:00

Two suicide bombers walked into a restaurant in central Mogadishu and killed at least 15 people yesterday, a week after militants targeted Somalia’s new president in a bomb attack.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. However, suspicions will fall on the Islamist militant group al Shabaab, which has carried out a campaign of suicide bombings since it withdrew from the capital last year under military pressure.

“So far, we have confirmed 15 dead people, including two local journalists and two policemen,” General Abdullahi Barise,
police spokesman and head of the criminal investigation
department, said.

The Village restaurant is owned by Somali businessman Ahmed Jama, who returned to his home from London to set up business against the advice of some friends.

“My relatives whom I created jobs for have perished. My customers have perished. All
innocent people. I cannot count them, their dead bodies are before me,” a distraught Mr Jama said.

The election of president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud last week was hailed by his supporters as a vote for change in a country mired in conflict for more than two decades.