Shebaab attack kills at least 14: police

An attack on Friday by a Somali Islamist group next to a busy park and a hotel in the capital killed at least 14, while 30 others were injured, police said yesterday.
Shwbaab militants, who want to topple the Western-backed government, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The government said a truck bomb was detonated near the entrance to the park and close to the Somali Youth League Hotel, known as SYL Hotel, in the seaside capital Mogadishu.
A Shebaab spokesman said in a statement to Reuters the death toll was 20 soldiers, while two members of the group died.
The group often gives a higher death toll for the attacks it carries out than the official numbers.
Police Major Ahmed Abdullahi told Reuters that the latest attack killed five members of the security forces and nine civilians, while 30 others were injured.
On Friday, another police officer said three militants had also been killed.
“It was a truck bomb carrying 200kg of explosives,” Somali Security Minister Abdirizak Omar told state radio.
The SYL Hotel is frequented by diplomats, government officials, foreign nationals and even hosts visiting heads of state.
It is located near the presidential palace.
The massive explosion created a 15m crater and “was the biggest one ever witnessed in Somalia”, Omar said.
Last year, Shebaab targeted the same hotel in a suicide car bombing as Turkish delegates were preparing for the visit of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Fifteen people, all of them Somali, were killed.
Witness Osman Abdullahi, who said he counted six bodies at a nearby restaurant, told DPA: “I thought a missile landed in the area. My other colleagues were speculating an airstrike was carried out.”
Also targeted was Peace Garden, a public garden near the hotel, which attracts hundreds of families in the evenings and at the weekend.
“We were one of the people who were taking their time with their kids in the garden at the time of the attacks,” said Abdiqani Omar, a father of four, who managed to exit the area to safety.
“A flying stone hit my head. There was a blood in my face, but not so serious,” he said.