16 killed in attack on Mogadishu hotel; Jihadist group Al-Shabaab takes onus

A hotel in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, was hit by explosions and gunfire on Friday as members of a Jihadist organisation targeted the establishment. At least 16 people were killed in the attack on a seaside hotel in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, said a government spokesman.

The jihadist organisation, Al-Shabaab, which has ties to Al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group has been conducting a violent insurgency against the fragile central government of Somalia for about 15 years.

A statement on a pro-Shabaab websiteclaimed: "A group of Al-Shabaab attackers forcibly entered Hotel Hayat in Mogadishu, the fighters are carrying out random shooting inside the hotel."

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Talking to AFP, Security official Abdukadir Hassan said that the attack on the Hayat Hotel led to a gunfight between security personnel and the Islamist militants hiding inside the building.

"A huge blast went off a few minutes before the gunmen forced their way into the hotel. There are casualties, and the security forces are now engaging with the enemy who are holed up inside the building," said Hassan soon after the attack.

At least 16 people were killed in the attack by the Islamist group al Shabaab on a seaside hotel in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu, said government spokesman Ismail Mukhtar Omar.

The toll includes 11 victims and five assailants, he said in a tweet.
“Security forces lost one, 18 people were injured,” Omar added.

The hotel is owned by former finance minister Abdullahi Mohamed Nor, a lawmaker, said a Reuters report.

A Reuters report quoting Abdikadir Abdirahman, director and founder of Mogadishu's Aamin ambulance services said at least 43 people injured in the attack had been transported to hospitals.

The original explosion was triggered by a suicide bomber who attacked the hotel with a number of other shooters, Somali police spokesperson Abdifatah Adan Hassan told reporters.

After the initial explosion, according to witnesses, there was a second bomb outside the hotel that injured rescue workers, security personnel, and bystanders who had rushed to the site.

Al Shabaab wants to topple the government and establish its own rule based on its own strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.The group has been waging war through bombings and gun assaults both on military and civilian targets like hotels and busy intersections in Mogadishu and across Somalia.

Al Shabaab has also conducted attacks in neighbouring Kenya and Uganda in revenge as the two countries had deployed their military in Somalia as part of regional peace keeping mission.

(With inputs from agencies)

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