Not less than 17 people have died and more than a dozen wounded in a gun and bomb attack by the al-Shabab armed group on a hotel in Somalia’s capital.
According to the government spokesman, Ismael Mukhtar Omar, the hotel’s siege on Sunday August 16, 2020, ended after a three-hour fierce gun battle between al-Shabab fighters and security forces which began with a suicide car bombing.
Among the victims were two government employees, three hotel security guards, four civilians and three unidentified people, police officer Ahmed Bashane was quoted as saying by the dpa.
Mukhtar told the Associated Press that all four assailants were killed by security forces.
“The attack started in the afternoon with a powerful car bomb blast which blew off the security gates to the hotel.
“Then, gunmen ran inside and took hostages, mostly young men and women who were dining there,” he said.
Military vehicles were later seen taking position around the hotel in the night, with officials initially concerned the darkness would prolong the siege.
Most guests of the four-storey seaside hotel could be rescued, but 28 wounded people were taken to hospitals, according to local ambulance services head, Abdulkadir Abdirahman Adan.
Witnesses confirmed the attack began with a heavy explosion and reported that people were running from the area as gunfire could be heard from the hotel, which is frequented by government officials, journalists and civil society activists.
“The blast was very heavy and I could see smoke in the area. There is chaos and people are fleeing from nearby buildings,” said witness Ali Sayid Adan.
Al-Shabab said they carried out the attack, according to a statement translated by the SITE Intelligence Group. The statement claimed its fighters “took control over the hotel” in the “martyrdom-seeking operation”.
Somalia plunged into chaos after the 1991 overthrow of then-President Siad Barre’s military regime, leading to years of clan warfare followed by the rise of al-Shabab which once controlled large parts of the country and Mogadishu.
Source: News Agency.
