Mogadishu Restaurant Bombing: Car Bomb Explodes In Somalia Killing At Least 3

A car bomb detonated at a crowded restaurant in Somalia Tuesday, killing at least three people in the capital city of Mogadishu, Al Jazeera reported. Another six people were wounded in the attack, according to Agence France-Presse.

Al-Shabab, the al Qaeda-linked terror group based in Somalia, didn’t take responsibility for the attack as of Tuesday morning, but the bombing bore its trademarks, according to the Associated Press. The militant group is known to strike targets in Mogadishu, and al-Shabab took responsibility for a bomb that exploded Monday in a United Nations van killing at least seven people in Garowe, Somalia, including four UNICEF workers, the AP reported.

Police officer Ahmed Warhere said the car was “loaded with explosives” and parked outside the restaurant, according to AFP. "There are at least three dead, and six others have been injured," he said.

Nick Kay, the United Nations envoy to Somalia, called the attack “another atrocity” for the country. “Killing needs to stop,” he told AFP.

Tuesday’s attack targeted the Bonoodo restaurant, adjacent to Mogadishu’s Central Hotel, according to Al Jazeera. The hotel was attacked in February by al-Shabab in an incident that killed 25 people, including two members of the Somali parliament, the network reported. The restaurant targeted Tuesday is also close to the presidential palace, according to Somali media outlet Garowe Online. Police were seen sealing off the area while ambulances transported the wounded to hospitals, the online publication said.

Al-Shabab was also behind the April 2 attack on Garissa University College in Kenya, which killed 148 people. Among the casualties were Christian students who were beheaded because of their faith; many Muslim students were spared. Al-Shabab said it committed the attack in response to Kenya's military intervention in Somalia, according to Voice of America.