A car bomb exploded outside a cafe in the Somali capital Mogadishu during the broadcast of the European Championship final, killing at least 11 people and wounding dozens of patrons of the crowded bar, a police spokesman said. Panic broke out in the cafe. The fatalities also included five people who were driving past the restaurant when the car parked in front exploded, the report said.
According to a police spokesman, it is still unclear whether a suicide bomber was in the vehicle or whether armed attackers were also involved. Investigators fear that the number of dead and injured could rise further. Neighboring buildings were also seriously damaged by the force of the explosion.
Al-Shabaab suspected
The restaurant that was attacked is popular with government workers. So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack. But the approach and the target bear the hallmarks of the radical Islamic terrorist militia Al-Shabaab, which has been waging a bloody war in the Horn of Africa country for years. On Saturday, a group of captured Al-Shabaab members tried to escape from the capital’s central prison in Mogadishu. Six people died.
Al-Shabaab rejects football, as well as music, as ‘haram’ (unclean) and attempted to attack the stadium in Mogadishu a few months ago during a football tournament there.
It is not new for a sporting final to be the focus of an Islamist attack: during the 2010 World Cup, Al-Shabaab detonated bombs in Kampala, Uganda, in a restaurant where hundreds of people were watching the World Cup final. At the time, 74 people died.
Attack on hotel
The Somali government has been fighting the terrorist militia that controls parts of Somalia for years. In recent months, there have been repeated attacks in Mogadishu. In March, terrorists attacked a hotel near the presidential palace and hid there for hours.
Source: Krone
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