Mogadishu(Mogadishu24)-A suicide bomber killed seven people, including police officers and civilians, and injured six others on Thursday afternoon after detonating an explosive device at a restaurant near the General Kahiye Police Academy in Mogadishu’s Hamar Jajab district.

According to a preliminary police report, the injured suffered minor wounds.

The al-Shabaab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, stating that the target was the police academy, where people were resting under a tree outside the facility.

This deadly incident occurred just weeks after the Somali government appointed Asad Osman Abdullahi as the new Chief of Police, as Somalia prepares to assume full security responsibility from the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS) in December.

This attack follows another incident on Wednesday in Mogadishu’s Hodan district, where suspected al-Shabaab gunmen shot and killed two shopkeepers and injured a third, reportedly due to the presence of CCTV cameras the group had previously threatened to remove.

The resurgence of such attacks highlights the ongoing security challenges Somalia faces in its fight against terrorism as the government works toward stabilizing the country.