Twin blasts kill at least 20 in Somalia
Somali soldiers gather near the destroyed restaurant in Mogadishu, Sept, 7, 2013.At least 20 people have been killed in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, after two explosions ripped through a busy car park, police said.
Somalia\’s al-Shabab claimed responsibility for Saturday\’s twin blasts in the Hamarweyne district of the capital.
In a statement on its website, al-Shabab said it carried out the Saturday attack on a restaurant because the business was being used as a base for foreign and local intelligence.
Investigators say a car bomb exploded near the restaurant on Saturday and, minutes later, a suicide bomber detonated explosives at the site.
The restaurant, called "The Village," is owned by a British-Somali businessman and is popular with government officials, politicians and journalists.
The militant group\’s statement said the restaurant belongs to people who are "enemies" and has been used to plot conspiracies against Muslims.
Al-Shabab has been fighting to overthrow Somalia\’s government and impose a strict form of Sharia, or Islamic law.
AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) and Somali forces pushed the militant group out of Mogadishu nearly two years ago, but it has continued to carry out periodic, guerilla-style attacks.
Suspected militants attacked the same restaurant last year, killing 14 people.
A separate attack in November at another restaurant with the same owner left a guard dead.
Source: Agencies
The Times of Earth ( TOE) founded in 1999, is a multilingual newspaper that is printed and circulated in many countries including some parts of the United States and Canada. It is considered as the largest trusted & respected international multimedia news/financial information source of the world.