The terrorist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.
A suicide bomber blew himself up, killed four others and wounded seven more on Tuesday in a busy area close to the regional administration headquarters in Mogadishu, according to Somali police.
The attack and the casualties were verified by Major Sadiq Aden Ali, a police spokesperson, who spoke to the colleagues of VOA Somali.
He said that the suicide bomber set off his explosive vest at around 11:40 a.m. in the Hamarweyne district, near Al-Hindi restaurant. “He caused harm to innocent, civilian, Somali Muslims,” Ali said. He added that the people who were outside the restaurant noticed a man who looked dubious and notified the police. He said that the security forces attempted to capture the bomber, but he escaped and triggered his explosives.
A video footage of the incident from a CCTV camera shows a security officer pursuing the potential bomber before the blast. The soldier who was chasing the bomber was among the wounded, Ali said. He said that the police did not shoot because it was a crowded market. “They tried to clear the area and catch him alive but he detonated [the vest].”
The blast occurred near the regional headquarters of Mogadishu, which was attacked by al-Shabab in July 2019 when the city’s former mayor, Abdirahman Omar Osman, was mortally wounded, and again in January 2023.
Ali said that the aim of the latest bomber is still unknown.He said that the security forces think that the suicide bomber [did not reach] his planned target, because the people who were suspicious informed the security forces, and that is how they intervened.
The militant group al-Shabab took responsibility for the attack. In a statement posted on the Telegram channel, the group said it was targeting intelligence agents and other government workers.
The blast happens amid a general enhancement in the security situation of the capital over the last year, supported by the deployment of troops and security checkpoints on the edges of the capital to stop possible truck bombs.
