Security forces in the Somali capital fought for several hours on Sunday before clearing a hotel of Islamist al-Shabaab gunmen who had stormed the building after two bombs ripped into it, police and witnesses said.
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At least 15 people have been killed and dozens more wounded in an attack on a hotel in the centre of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, witnesses say.
The Sahafi Hotel, which is often frequented by Somali government officials and business executives, has been targeted before.
Men watch as fires burn outside the Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu, …
Eyewitness accounts said the attackers had rammed their way through the heavily-gated compound, detonating two explosives.
Al-Shabab spokesman Abdulaziz Abu Musab claimed the gunmen had overrun the hotel, which is situated near the major K4 roundabout. Information Minister Mohamed Abdi Hayir Maareeye told state-run Radio Mogadishu that security forces had taken the hotel.
“We got phone calls from staff hiding in hotel rooms saying that there are several injured people in the hotel”, police officer Nur said.
Reuters photographer Feisal Omar, centre, was injured in the explosion during the attack. “The situation now is under our control”, he said. “Our courageous troops are carrying out a final clearing operation in and outside the hotel”, he said.
Their target, yet again, a hotel popular with government leaders and members of parliament.
According to officials, Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda affiliate, have accepted the responsibility of the attack.
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) strongly condemns this morning’s heinous terrorist attack on civilians at the Sahafi Hotel in Mogadishu town.
The latest attack was condemned by Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
The militants have also carried out a string of revenge strikes in neighbouring countries.
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Mohamoud said the latest al-Shabaab dispute on whether to switch allegiance were “symptomatic of a group that has lost its way”.
