At least 12 killed in Somalia capital Mogadishu in hotel attack claimed by al Shabaab | World News
At least 12 people have been killed in an attack by Islamist gunmen who stormed a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
Several people were also injured and others, including children, had to be rescued by security services from Mogadishu’s Hayat Hotel.
Most of those killed are believed to be civilians.
The attack began with two car bomb explosions followed by gunfire at around 4pm local time (6pm UK time) on Friday.
An ambulance service said it had removed nine injured people from the hotel, much of which is believed to have been destroyed.
Security forces deal with an attack that surrounds a car
Gunfire was still heard early Saturday as security forces tried to stop the last of the gunmen, who are believed to be inside the hotel.
It is unknown how many were left, after they were believed to have been stashed on the top floor of the hotel.
Witness Abdullahi Hussein told AP: “We were drinking tea near the hotel lobby when we heard first explosion, then gunfire. I immediately rushed towards the hotel rooms on the ground floor, and I door lock (it).
“The fighters went straight upstairs and started shooting. I stayed in my room until security came and rescued me.”
He said that as he was walking out of the complex, he saw “several bodies lying on the ground outside the hotel reception”.
Al Qaeda-link al Shabaab claimed it was behind the attack.
The terrorist group has been fighting to remove the Somali government for more than 10 years, with the aim of establishing a state governed by a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
The Hayat Hotel is popular with politicians and other government officials.
According to the Somali National News Agency, police were conducting an operation to prevent the attack at the time it happened.
“The unsung heroes of the Somali Police Special Operations Unit rescued many people from the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu as security forces were dealing with the terrorist attack,” the agency said.
Friday’s attack was the first since new Somali president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in May.
In August 2020, al Shabaab said it was behind an attack on another hotel in Mogadishu in which at least 16 people were killed.
At least 13 people died in an attack in Beledweyne in February.
