At least two persons died and three others were wounded in a grenade attack on a house where young Somalis were secretly watching a world cup game in the Elasha biyaha neighborhood south of Mogadishu last night.

Residents say that unidentified assailants threw a hang grenade at the house during the Spain-Germany clash on Wednesday night killing two and wounding three others.

“A teenage boy died on the spot and the other one perished from his serious wounds at the hospital hours later the attack” Abdalla Aweys, a resident in the Elasha biyaha neighborhood said in a telephone conversation on Thursday.

“I was one of those who were watching the game, every one of us run toward his front when the explosion occurred, praise be to Allah so that I am now safe and sound” Abdalla added.

No one has yet claimed for the responsibility of the latest attack on world cup fans in Somalia where Islamists consider football as a “satanic act”.

The latest killing brings the death tall of world cup fans killed in Somalia since last month to at least five, while more than 50 others are still being held in custody. According to the militants, those in jails will be brought to court in an unspecified future time.

The Alqaeda-linked militants in Somalia told Somali soccer fans before the world cup kick off last month that viewing football is illegal and that whoever is seen watching it will be punished.

But Somalis who are mostly football addicts have defied the Islamist band and are watching games regularly whatever it takes to them.

In Mogadishu alone there were more than 500 cinemas where football fans used to go for watching, but only one cinema, the Dhamuke cinema is now open in the government controlled side of Mogadishu.

Even though the Dhamuke cinema is in the government side of the capital, it has more than 20 armed men who are scattered outside to ensure the safety of those inside.

Fans sit around a TV screen to watch the 2010 world cup opening match Photo by Reuters

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