3 killed, 4 injured in Somali suicide bombing

At least, three people were killed and four others injured, after a suicide bomber blew himself up near a busy restaurant in Mogadishu’s Hamarjajab district, medical officials and witnesses said on Monday.

“We have carried three bodies and four injured people to the hospitals,’’ Abdikadir Abdirrahman, Director of Aamin Ambulance, told Xinhua by phone.

Police sources told Xinhua that security forces managed to stop the suicide bomber by firing at him before reaching his target.

Government spokesman, Ismael Mukhtar Omar, however, said two people were killed and another one was injured when a suicide bomber, wearing a suicide vest, blew himself up at the entrance of the busy Lul Yamani restaurant.

“The attacker wanted to blow up himself inside the restaurant, but one of its restaurant security staff grabbed him and stopped him at the gate before blowing up,’’ Omar said.

Witnesses said they heard a huge blast near Mogadishu seaport.

“As I was travelling near the road, I heard a huge blast; then I ran away for my safety,’’ Said Ahmed, a witness, said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack but the militant group al-Shabab, which is fighting to overthrow the Western-backed government has usually conducted such attacks in the past.