A
car
bomb
has
exploded
outside
a
cafe
in
Somalia’s
capital
Mogadishu,
killing
at
least
nine
and
injuring
several
others
as
patrons
were
watching
the
final
of
the
Euro
2024
football
tournament
on
TV,
the
government
said.
The
al-Qaeda-linked
armed
group,
al-Shabab,
has
claimed
responsibility
for
Sunday’s
deadly
attack
via
an
affiliated
radio
station,
saying
the
bombing
targeted
a
place
where
security
and
government
workers
meet
at
night.
Mohamed
Yusuf,
an
official
from
the
national
security
agency,
told
AFP
news
agency
on
Monday
that
nine
people
have
been
killed
in
the
incident,
raising
the
official
death
toll
of
five
given
by
the
authorities
late
on
Sunday.
“Nine
civilians
were
killed
and
20
others
wounded
in
the
explosion,”
he
said.
“There
were
many
people
inside
the
restaurant,
most
of
them
youth
who
were
watching
the
football
match…
but
thanks
to
God,
most
of
them
made
their
way
out
safely
after
using
ladders
to
climb
up
and
jump
over
the
backside
perimeter
wall,”
Yusuf
added.
Images
posted
online
showed
a
huge
fireball
and
plumes
of
smoke
billowing
into
the
night
sky
as
the
explosion
ripped
through
the
popular
restaurant
in
the
centre
of
the
city
on
Sunday.
The
bomb
also
destroyed
10
cars
and
damaged
several
buildings
nearby
in
a
well-guarded
area
near
the
presidential
palace.
Despite
losing
large
swaths
of
territory
to
government
forces
and
their
allies,
al-Shabab
has
frequently
launched
raids
and
deadly
attacks
targeting
the
government.
Al-Shabab
has
been
fighting
to
topple
the
fragile
central
government
in
Mogadishu
for
more
than
17
years,
carrying
out
numerous
bombings
and
other
attacks
in
the
capital
and
other
parts
of
the
country.
Somalia’s
federal
government
depends
on
the
support
of
foreign
troops
to
stay
in
power.
The
government
has
joined
forces
with
local
armed
groups
to
fight
the
group
in
a
campaign
supported
by
an
African
Union
force
and
US
air
raids.
But
the
offensive
has
suffered
setbacks,
with
al-Shabab
earlier
this
year
claiming
it
had
taken
multiple
locations
in
the
centre
of
the
country.
Somalia
last
month
called
for
the
African
Union
to
slow
the
planned
withdrawal
of
its
forces
from
the
troubled
country.
UN
resolutions
called
for
troop
numbers
in
the
AU
peacekeeping
mission,
known
as
ATMIS,
to
be
reduced
to
zero
by
December
31
with
security
handed
over
to
the
Somali
army
and
police.
The
third
and
penultimate
phase
was
to
see
the
departure
of
4,000
ATMIS
soldiers
–
out
of
a
total
of
13,500
–
by
the
end
of
June.
But
Somalia’s
government
said
it
wanted
to
see
only
2,000
soldiers
leave
in
June
and
the
remaining
2,000
in
September.
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