Somalia Beach-Front Restaurant Siege Kills at Least 25 People

  • Suspected al-Shabaab gunmen fired at patrons indiscriminately
  • Somali authorities take mastermind of attack into custody

Two ambulances stand on the scene of a bomb attack in Lido Beach in Mogadishu on Thursday.

Photographer: Mohamed Abdiwahab/AFP via Getty Images
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At least 25 people died when suspected Islamist militants attacked a beach-front restaurant and a hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.

The siege by at least five gunmen began at about 7 p.m. on Thursday with a car-bomb explosion and ended in the early hours of this morning, Captain Mohamed Aloley, a police officer in the city, said in an interview. The authorities suspect al-Shabaab carried out the attack and the mastermind of the raid is in custody, the National Intelligence and Security Agency said in a statement broadcast on state radio.