Shabab attack kills 12 in Somalia hotel
At least 12 people were killed in the Somali capital yesterday after Shebab gunmen used a vehicle packed with explosives to blast their way inside a hotel, police said.
The al-Qaeda linked Shebab claimed responsibility for the dawn attack at the Sahafi hotel, which is popular with members of parliament, government employees and businessmen.
After the car bomb ripped a hole in the hotel's fortified walls, gunmen then stormed the building firing semi-automatic rifles, with the sounds of grenade blasts, witnesses said.
"This is the action of an increasingly desperate, internally-divided group of extremists," Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said in a statement, after security forces defeated the Shebab in intense gun battles.
"Our security forces have full control of the situation," he added.
Somalia's National and Intelligence Agency declared the attack over several hours after shooting began, although special forces appeared to be carrying out mopping up operations for some time afterwards.
The African Union mission in Somalia, AMISOM, a 22,000-strong force fighting the Shebab, said they fought alongside government troops and had secured the hotel.
"Attackers exploded a car bomb to gain entry before going inside... we have reports of 12 dead," policeman Abdulrahid Dahir said.
Among the dead are reported to be a Somali journalist, colleagues said, as well as a lawmaker and a former senior army commander.
UN envoy to Somalia, Nick Kay, condemned the "bloody attack" which he said underlined the need to help support Somalia's security forces in stopping such attacks.
Witnesses said they had seen several bodies of people killed in the initial blast, when a minibus packed with explosives was reportedly used to ram the gates of the hotel's fortified compound, which was followed by a second heavy explosion.
Shebab commandos then stormed inside, with witnesses reporting intense gunfire and several loud blasts.
"There was a huge explosion and people around the entrance were killed," said Mohamed Ismael, a witness, who was nearby when the attack began.
Shebab insurgents, who are fighting to overthrow the internationally backed government in Mogadishu, have carried out a string of attacks on hotels in the capital.
The Islamists have frequently used car bombs driven by suicide bombers to break into a complex or a building, with more attackers then following on foot.
Comments