32 killed in Al-Shabaab Mogadishu beach attack

An Al-Shabaab suicide bomber and gunmen attacked a busy beach in the Somali capital Mogadishu killing at least 32 people and wounding scores more, in one of the deadliest strikes in the East African country in months, police said on Saturday.

The Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists have been waging an insurgency against the internationally-backed federal government for more than 17 years and have already targeted the Lido beach area, popular with business people and officials.

Unverified videos shared online in the immediate aftermath of the attack late on Friday showed people scattering along a street, with a number of clips purportedly showing bloodied bodies lying on the beachfront.

"More than 32 civilians died in this attack and about 63 others were wounded, some of them critically," police spokesman Abdifatah Adan Hassan told reporters during a press conference.

"Targeting and blasting to kill 32 members from the civilian population means these Kharijites are not going to target only government centres, soldiers and officials," he said, using the term Somali officials adopt to describe Al-Shabaab.