Al-Shabaab attacks hotel in Somali capital: police

Al-Shabaab attacks hotel in Somali capital: police, Police and witnesses reported that gunfire and explosions were heard throughout the city center on Sunday as Al-Shabaab militants attacked a hotel close to the presidential palace in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.

Al-Shabaab attacks hotel in Somali capital: police

 

Al-Shabaab attacks hotel in Somali capital: police

 

“A team of Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a commercial hotel in Bondhere district tonight (and) the security forces are engaging in an effort to eliminate them,” national police spokesman Sadik Dudishe said in statement. He said many civilians and officials had been rescued from the Villa Rose, a hotel popular with politicians in a secure central area of the capital near the office of Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.

Witnesses described hearing loud explosions followed by gunfire. “I was close to Villa Rose when two heavy explosions rocked the hotel,” said one witness, Aadan Hussein. “There was heavy gunfire. The area was cordoned off and I saw people fleeing.” The hotel’s website describes the Villa Rose as the “most secure lodging arrangement in Mogadishu” with metal detectors and a high perimeter wall.

 

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Al-Shabaab, a militant group affiliated with Al-Qaeda that has been trying to overthrow Somalia’s central government in Mogadishu for 15 years, claimed responsibility for the attack. The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), a 20,000-strong force drawn from across the continent, condemned the attack. “ATMIS further applauds Somali Security Force for the swift response to prevent further casualties and property damage,” said ATMIS on Twitter.

– Retaliatory attacks –

President Mohamud declared “all-out war” against Al-Shabaab shortly after being elected in May. The security forces, backed by local militias, ATMIS and US air strikes, have driven Al-Shabaab from some parts of central Somalia. But the insurgents have retaliated with a series of devastating attacks, underscoring their ability to strike at the heart of Somalia’s cities and military installations.

 

Al-Shabaab attacks hotel in Somali capital: police

 

On October 29, two cars packed with explosives blew up minutes apart in Mogadishu followed by gunfire, killing at least 121 people and injuring 333 others. It was the deadliest attack in the fragile Horn of Africa nation in five years. A triple bombing in the central city of Beledweyne earlier that month left 30 dead including local officials, while at least 21 patrons at a hotel in Mogadishu were killed in a 30-hour siege in August.

Earlier this month, the UN reported that at least 613 civilians had died and 948 had been injured in Somalia’s violence this year, which was primarily brought on by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that were attributed to Al-Shabaab. The figures increased by more than 30% from the previous year and were the highest since 2017.

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