Somalia: Ten dead in an attack on a hotel – Shebab claimed responsibility

At least ten people were killed when gunmen stormed a hotel near the presidential palace in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Sunday night, police said.

Among the victims are two persons with dual British and Somali citizenship, Mohamed Dahir, a Somali police officer, told the German Agency. The hotel, which is frequented by politicians, remained under siege late at night.

Internal Security Minister Ahmed Mohamed Dudis is among the injured, according to police.

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab jihadist group has been waging a guerrilla war since 2007 to topple the Western-backed federal government, claiming responsibility for the attack, citing ongoing fighting inside the hotel.

The raid in the heart of the capital came two days after a large-scale operation by the Somali army in the central part of the country in which at least 100 Shebab members, including ten of their leaders, were killed, according to the general staff.

In recent months, the government army has been escalating its operations against Shebab, with the support of tribal and civilian paramilitary groups. It says it is making territorial gains as part of the “total war” that Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said he would launch in August.

Shebab fighters were driven out of the country’s major cities in 2011—including Mogadishu—but remain entrenched in vast areas of the province from where they launch frequent and deadly attacks on security forces, government officials and civilians, especially in the capital.

RES-EMP

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