Earlier on Wednesday at the luxury Ambassador hotel, a auto bomb exploded at the gates and al-Shabaab gunmen stormed the building, killing at least 10 people.
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At least 15 people have been killed after suspected terrorists set off a auto bomb and stormed a hotel in the Somali capital, officials say.
Nine bodies were removed from the hotel after troops killed the last remaining assailants, Capt. Mohamed Hussein, a senior Somali police officer told The Associated Press. The (security) operation is about to end now.
At least 10 people were killed in today’s attacks according to BBC News reports.
A powerful explosion rocked the Ambassador Hotel in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu Wednesday, followed by gunfire, Reuters reports.
An African Union force has helped the nation’s forces to push the militants from the capital, Mogadishu, since 2011.
Al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabaab quickly claimed responsibility for the attacks – claiming to have killed 20 people.
Hassan had said earlier police suspected al Shabaab fighters were still present in the hotel.
Mohamud Dulyadeyn, the plotter behind the Garissa University attack in April a year ago, and Maalim Daud, head of Al-Shabaab’s intelligence hit squads, were killed by the Somali National Army and anti-terror partners. The attack took place on the Ambassador hotel, which is often frequented by government officials and business executives.
Vehicles burn at the scene a bomb attack on an hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia Wednesday, June 1, 2016. We killed many of them inside and we shall give details later. In April, a United States drone strike near the Kenyan border killed al-Shabaab leader Hassan Ali Dhoore, who helped plan a 2014 Christmas day attack and 2015 hotel attack.
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The Pentagon confirmed early Wednesday afternoon that US military forces targeted al-Shabaab leader Ma’alim Da’ud (AKA Abdullahi Haji Daud) in a drone strike last Friday.
