MOGADISHU, Somalia -- Somalia's security forces ended a deadly assault on a beachfront restaurant in the capital, with at least 20 people killed in the attack, a police official said Friday.
The security forces took control of the restaurant just before dawn, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein, speaking from the scene of the attack in Mogadishu.
Somali Security Minister Abdirizak Omar Mohamed said the suspected leader of the attack had been arrested.
On Friday, relatives were identifying the dead. The bodies were laid out on the sand, their heads covered by yellow tablecloths, many soaked with blood. Some family members burst into tears upon discovering the body of a loved one. Some of the dead included the attackers.
After identifying the dead, relatives carried bodies away.
"They randomly fired at people sitting near the beach before entering the restaurant," said Ahmed Nur, who was strolling along the shoreline when the attack happened. A party was underway when the gunmen opened fire.
The Liido Seafood restaurant was littered with bloodstained, overturned chairs, tables, shoes and bullet casings, the walls scarred from bullet strikes and blackened with soot.
Witnesses said a number of Islamic extremists entered the restaurant from the beach Thursday evening, shouting as they fired at people indiscriminately.
"I was intending to go out, but suddenly we heard a heavy explosion followed by gunfire. ... I saw a militant fighter shooting indiscriminately at everybody. Then I locked myself inside a room until we were evacuated peacefully by the security forces," said Abdulkadir Mohamed Somow, who had been trapped inside the restaurant.
Blasts and bursts of gunfire could be heard as Somali special forces went from room to room, pursuing the al-Shabab gunmen.
Hussein, the police official, said security forces rescued many people who had been trapped.
Survivors of the Liido Seafood attack said militants forced restaurant's guests onto the ground before randomly killing them.
"I hid myself downstairs in the bathroom until troops came to my rescue. It was a terrible night," said Abdiqani Guled
Among the survivors of the attack was Mohamed Abdiqani Kheyre. He is 3 years old, and his mother was killed.
Mohamed was wounded, and on Friday the little boy's right arm and neck were bandaged as he lay on a hospital bed. His aunt, Halima Hassan, tended to Mohamed.
Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack in a broadcast on its online radio late Thursday.
The attack came a week after al-Shabab attacked Kenyan peacekeepers in southwestern Somalia last week and overran their base. The al-Qaida-linked group said it had killed about 100 Kenyans and seized weapons and military vehicles. The Kenyan government has given no death toll.
While al-Shabab fighters fled Mogadishu in 2011 under pressure from an African Union military force, they have managed to carry out sporadic bombings and shootings in the capital and attack African Union forces in the countryside.
On a normal Friday, Liido Beach would be packed with hundreds of people surfing, swimming and strolling along the white sand. After the attack, armed soldiers stood guard near the beach. Fishing boats that would normally transport picnickers drifted at anchor in the blue waters.
"It's a sad day, whenever a hope comes up it gets dashed by such attacks. This city's future is precarious," said Mumina Ahmed, a Somali-American who returned to Mogadishu last week after 14 years in Virginia.
A Section on 01/23/2016