Suicide Bomber Kills Three In Somali Capital, Police Say

A suicide bomber attacked a popular restaurant in Mogadishu, the Somali capital, Saturday, killing himself and at least three others, Somali police said.

The attacker, dressed in a business suit over a suicide vest, detonated the bomb after entering the Village Restaurant, which is opposite Somalia's National Theatre, police said.

"So far, three civilians are dead," Major Nur Ali, a senior police officer, told Reuters.

In comments on state radio, Somali Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir blamed the attack on al-Shabab, the al Qaeda-aligned Islamist militants who wage frequent attacks in the capital as part of a campaign to bring down the Western-backed Somali government.

"The al-Shabab suicide bomber did not cause many casualties," he said, adding that most of the people in the restaurant were able to escape before the bomb was detonated.

A spokesman for the group could not be reached for comment.

Saturday's attack marked the third time suicide bombers have attacked the restaurant.

On Friday, al-Shabab militants attacked a police station in the capital, and police said that three of them were killed. Police showed journalists pictures of the dead, but al-Shabab denied it had lost anyone in the attack.