Police in Somalia say a suicide bomber killed four people and himself and injured seven others Tuesday when he detonated an explosives-laden vest in a crowded area near Mogadishu’s regional administration headquarters.
Major Sadiq Aden Ali, a police spokesman, confirmed the attack and casualties in an interview with VOA Somali.
“At about 11:40 a.m., a suicide bomber detonated himself in Hamarweyne district, in particular at Al-Hindi restaurant,” Ali said. “He inflicted casualties on innocent, civilian, Somali Muslims.”
Ali said people sitting outside the restaurant saw a suspicious-looking man and alerted police. Ali said the security forces tried to apprehend the bomber, but he ran away and detonated his explosives.
A video clip of the incident from a closed-circuit TV feed shows a security officer chasing the would-be bomber before the explosion.
The soldier chasing the bomber was among the injured, Ali said.
“The police did not fire because it is a crowded market,” he said. “They tried to keep people away and apprehend him alive but he detonated [the vest].”
The explosion was near the Mogadishu regional headquarters, which was targeted by al-Shabab in July 2019 when the city's former mayor, Abdirahman Omar Osman, was fatally injured, and again in January 2023.
SEE ALSO: Somali Forces End Al-Shabab Siege on Mogadishu Mayor’s OfficeAli said the target of the most recent bomber is not yet clear.
“Security forces believe the suicide bomber [did not reach] his intended target, because when the people suspected they informed the security forces, and that is how they engaged,” he said.
Militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement posted on the Telegram channel, the group said it was targeting intelligence operatives and other government employees.
The explosion comes amid a general improvement in the capital’s security situation over the last year, aided by the deployment of troops and security checkpoints on the outskirts of the capital to prevent would-be truck bombs.
Harun Maruf contributed to this report.