Five Killed in Car Bomb Blast at Mogadishu Cafe during Euro 2024 Final
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – A powerful car bomb exploded late Sunday at a packed cafe in Somalia’s Mogadishu, killing five people and injuring around 20, police and local media reported.
The explosion occurred at the Top Coffee Restaurant in the center of Mogadishu, where football fans were watching the Euro 2024 final between Spain and England.
Images posted online showed a huge fireball and plumes of smoke billowing into the night sky.
"A car bomb detonated tonight outside Top Coffee Restaurant... placed by Kharijite terrorists," reported the Somali National News Agency (SONNA), using the term for the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab group.
"Preliminary police reports confirm five fatalities and around 20 injuries," SONNA cited police spokesman Major Abdifitah Aden Hassan as saying.
Somali National Television confirmed the details of the bombing.
An AFP journalist reported that firefighters, police, and ambulances rushed to the scene, which is near the presidential palace compound, Villa Somalia.
Al-Shabaab has been waging an insurgency against Somalia's federal government for over 17 years, conducting numerous bombings in Mogadishu and other parts of the country.