- Somali troops say they’ve vanquished terrorists who besieged a hotel in the capital.
- Local media suggests the death toll might be much greater than 12.
- Al-Shabab claimed responsibility. “
Assailants used explosives to storm Mogadishu’s Hayat Hotel on Friday, capturing hostages overnight. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility. “The security forces have ended the siege and the gunmen are dead; we haven’t had any incoming fire in an hour,” an official told AFP.
Videos show explosions and smoke pouring from the hotel’s rooftop throughout Friday night and Saturday’s attack. Two vehicle explosives were used to enter the hotel on Friday evening, a police official told Reuters.
After the original incident, an al-Shabab website reported terrorists “carried out random shootings” after “forcibly entering” the hotel, where governmental personnel sometimes congregate. An unnamed intelligence official told that on Saturday that 12 people, primarily civilians, had killed. Security officers fought for hours to get access to the floor since the militants had blasted the stairway.
Mogadishu’s primary trauma centre is treating at least 40 individuals injured in the hotel bombing and a second mortar strike. Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda branch, has fought the government for years.
The organisation controls most of southern and central Somalia but has expanded into Mogadishu-controlled territories. In recent weeks, al-Shabab forces struck locations near the Somalia-Ethiopia border, raising fears about a new tactic. First assault in Somalia’s capital since Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected in May.
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