“The operation to dislodge the attackers is ongoing now. The attackers are still inside and fighting our troops,” a spokesman said from the scene of the attack as gunfire rang out in the background.
He said he had counted at least three bodies outside the restaurant. An unknown number of people are still trapped inside the restaurant, he said.
Witnesses said that gunmen shouted “Allahu akbar,” the Arabic phrase for “God is great,” and entered the restaurant from the direction of the beach as clients, sitting behind razor wire, watched the seashore.
“They randomly fired at the people sitting near the beach before entering the restaurant,” said witness Ahmed Nur, who was strolling along on the shoreline when the attack happened.
Gunmen have fought their way into a restaurant near a beach in Mogadishu after a suicide car bomber rammed the gates of the building, according to a Somali police official.
Captain Mohamed Hussein said he believes the attackers have taken some hostages inside the restaurant, which is popular with the city’s elite and government officials.
He said the attackers opened fire on the customers of the restaurant, known as Liido Seafood, on Thursday evening before storming the building.
It was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the ongoing attack, which bore the hallmarks of the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for an attack on Kenyan peacekeepers in south-western Somalia last week.
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