Somalia: Bombers Hit Exiles' Diner In Capital

Suicide bombers have attacked a restaurant in the capital of Somali that is popular with former exiles, police have said.

Reports said one person died in the Mogadishu attack on Saturday, with several others wounded.

"There were two suicide bombers who attacked the restaurant. The two of them have died and other people who stayed in the place were injured," a Somali police officer said.

"We are still investigating the casualties," officer Abdi Adan said.

Witness Ahmed Salad Ibrahim said a security guard at the restaurant had been killed in the blast -- a report police said they could not immediately confirm.

"I was sitting inside the restaurant premises when gunfire started at the gate," Mr Ibrahim said.

Soldiers walk near the shattered glass of a destroyed car after the attack

"We stood and rushed to find out what was happening and I saw the security guard at the gate holding the bomber before he detonated."

"As I was shocked with smoke and dust covering the whole area, another suicide bomber detonated himself outside," he added.

"The guard and the two bombers died while other civilians were injured."

Another witness, Idle Husien, said there had been a "heavy exchange" of gunfire followed by large explosions.

"I'm not far away from the place and I can see people injured and the severed dead bodies of the suicide bombers," Mr Husien said.

The targeted restaurant called Sports Coffee is owned by a restaurateur of Somali origin, Ahmed Jama, who recently relocated to Mogadishu from London, where he trained as a chef.

Earlier reports said the restaurant was The Village, but that is the name of another Mogadishu establishment owned by Jama which was hit by a suicide bomb attack in September, killing at least 18 people including three journalists.

A destroyed car near the diner owned by an ex-resident of London

The restaurants have been mentioned several times recently in the international press as a symbol of a nascent return to normal life in Mogadishu after more than 20 years of civil war and violence.

The urban warfare that had gripped the Somali capital has stopped since the country's Al-Qaeda-linked Shebab insurgents were chased from the city in August 2011 by Somalia's rudimentary army and the 17,000-strong African Union force Amisom.

The Shebab, who were long active mainly in southern and central Somalia, have increasingly switched to guerrilla tactics after abandoning fixed positions in Mogadishu.

Saturday's attack came as Somalia's new leaders worked to form a government under a UN-backed process to restore stability after two decades of anarchy.

Somalia has lacked an effective central government since president Mohamed Siad Barre was ousted in 1991, unleashing cycles of bloody conflict that have defied countless peace initiatives.

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