Death toll Islamist attack at least 14, police says

February 27, 2016 3:08 PM

Al Shabaab militants, who want to topple the Western-backed government, claimed responsibility for the attack.

A car suspected by the Somali police to have been used in a bomb attack is seen as residents gather to view the damage at the scene of the attack near Somali Youth League Hotel, known as SYL hotel, in Hamarweyne district in Mogadishu, February 27, 2016. At least nine people were killed when fighters from Somali Islamist group al Shabaab set off a car bomb at the gate of a popular park and near the hotel in the capital, sending a plume of smoke above the coastal city. REUTERS/Feisal Omar - RTS88AQ

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 on Saturday.

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.

An al Shabaab 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 200 kg of explosives," Somali Security Minister Abdirizak Omar told state radio.