At least 32 dead in terrorist explosion on beach after Al-Qaeda linked suicide bomber, gunmen launch attack at resort

AT LEAST 32 people were killed in a horrific suicide attack in Africa.

Terrorists from the Al-Qaeda-linked group Al-Shabaab opened fire on a popular tourist resort in Somalia, also injuring 63 people.

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Horrifying footage and images from the beach showed bodies strewn across the sand as emergency services rushed to help.

The explosion occurred while people were swimming at the popular Lido beach in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Friday night.

Local police spokesman Abdifatah Adan Hassan told reporters that security forces rushed to the scene to confront the “five armed men.”

He later told a news conference: “More than 32 civilians died in this attack and around 63 others were injured, some of them seriously.”

Police said one of the attackers blew himself up, while three others were killed by security forces.

The fifth was captured by the police alive.

A horrified witness, Abdilatif Ali, told AFP: “Everyone was in panic and it was difficult to know what was happening because the shooting started right after the explosion.

“I saw a lot of people scattered (on the ground) and some of them were dead and others were injured.”

Another man who saw the attack happen from a nearby hotel said: “I saw injured people on the beach, people were screaming in panic and it was difficult to tell who was dead and who was still alive.”

And Mohamud Moalim told the AP that he saw one of the attackers wearing an explosive vest shortly before “blowing himself up near the hotel overlooking the beach.”

Police officer Mohamed Omar said the attackers “shot civilians at random.”

The Islamic extremist terrorist group Al-Shabaab has previously claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the area.

He did the same today, after Friday’s heinous attack in an online post, The New York Times reports.

Al-Shabaab used to control huge areas in Somalia, including the capital, before local and international efforts successfully pushed them back.

Former Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire said: “The fact that the terrorist attack coincides with this evening, when the beach is most congested, shows the hostility of the terrorists towards the Somali people.”

Lido Beach, popular with locals and tourists, was once targeted by the same terrorist group.

In 2023, another beachfront hotel in the area was besieged by the terrorist cult in a six-hour attack.

Six people died and 10 were injured.

Last month, a car bomb was exploded in a cafe in the capital.

And in March, Al-Shabaab terrorists killed three people and injured 27 in another attack on hotels.

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