Prime minister Mr. Hamsa Abdi Barre has criticised security lapses which allowed al-Shabaab militants to target beach revellers at a Mogadishu beach on Friday.
At least 37 people were killed after a vehicle rigged with explosives went off as people gathered at the Lido Beach for some recreation.
al-Shabaab fighters who claimed responsibility for the beach raid, also later engaged personnel of the Somali security forces.
PM Barre who visited the injured at the Erdogan hospital in the capital on Saturday said strict measures have been taken to hold accountable the officers who worked in the areas targeted in the attack and vowed to punish those found to have been lax in their duties.
The prime minister said that although they were defeated in the battlefield, al-Shabaab known by the derogatory name Khawaarij have targeted the youth ”who were the eyes and the future of the country, who had nothing to do with politics, and were peacefully celebrating in their country”.
He said the group has shown that its members are not inspired by religion, culture and morals, but instead stand for the extermination of the Somali people.
al-Shabaab have been waging a jihadists insurgency in Somalia since 2006.
WN/as/APA