At least 17 people were killed in the Somali capital of Mogadishu when five Islamist gunmen set off bombs and stormed a popular beach-front restaurant late on Thursday, Somali police said. Al Shabaab, a militant group aligned with al Qaeda, said its fighters set off two car bombs at the Beach View Cafe on Mogadishu's popular Lido beach, and engaged in a gun battle for hours with government troops trying to flush them out.
"The operation ended at 3 am last night and at least 17 civilians were killed," police officer Osman Nur told Reuters on Friday. Somalia's security minister, Abdirizak Omar Mohamed, said four of the gunmen were killed and one was captured alive. "The government forces rescued hundreds of civilians who were dining there," he told state-run Radio Muqdisho.