Death toll in Somalia beach restaurant attack rises to 10

“Ten people including six civilians, two members of the security forces and two Shabaab militants were killed in the attack”, Mogadishu city spokesman Abdifatah Halane said.

The attackers set off a auto bomb at the Banadir restaurant at the city’s Lido beach before engaging security forces in a fight for several hours.

The attack has started with a huge auto explosion near the restaurant and 3 or 4 men fought their way onto the building, taking customers as hostages.

“We attacked the Banadir beach restaurant and now our fighters are fighting inside it”, al-Shabaab’s military spokesperson Abdiasis Abu Musab told Reuters.

Casualties were reported as two suspected al-Shabaab attacks occurred simultaneously Thursday in Somalia. The assailants also threw grenades at security services who had cordoned off the area. Mohamed Said, a police officer, said by phone that he had counted five bodies at the scene.

The attackers set off a vehicle bomb at the Banadir restaurant at the city’s Lido beach before engaging security forces in a fight for several hours.

It is the latest attack by the group in Somalia and it comes just days after an attack on a Local Government headquarters left at least twenty people dead on Sunday. One man with a head wound was detained by the authorities which accused him of being the bomber.

By Friday morning officials said the attackers had been killed.

Al-Shabaab, a Somali group linked to al-Qaeda, has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Al Shabab seeks to overthrow the internationally backed government in Mogadishu and impose an austere Islamic rule on Somalia.

Earlier this year, 17 people died when the group stormed a restaurant on Lido beach.