30 killed in Somali attack claimed by al-Shabaab

JOHANNESBURG

Al-Shabaab militants have claimed responsibility for an attack that killed at least 30 people in Somalia on Sunday evening.

More than 50 were injured when a bomb exploded at a restaurant in Baidoa, a city around 250 kilometers (155 miles), northwest of capital Mogadishu.

In a second explosion, a car bomb was detonated at a busy road junction.

“I can confirm 30 people were killed in the explosions and 50 others injured,” Somali lawmaker and former Security Minister Abdisamad Hassan told Anadolu Agency by telephone.

He said local officials were still collecting information about the attack, which follows an attack in Mogadishu on Friday night that killed nine.

Al-Shabaab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, claimed it had targeted security forces. The group has continued its campaign across the Horn of Africa region despite being ousted from most parts of the country by African Union (AU) peacekeepers and Somali government forces.

Sunday’s incident was the fourth major attack by al-Shabaab in the last two months.

Foreign officials based in Somali condemned the latest atrocity. Smail Chergui, the AU Commissioner for Peace and Security, said the attack would strengthen the resolve of peacekeepers in the country.

The Baidoa attack came on the same day countries contributing troops to the AU force in Somalia said they would reinforce the military operation.