The death toll remains unclear, with police putting the number at 10 and a security official telling AFP the death toll was four.
Gunfire was heard in the morning from the hotel grounds in Somalia’s capital, which was taken over on Sunday by members of the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab jihadist group.
Parliament announced it was postponing its scheduled session as the death toll remained unclear, with police putting the death toll at 10 and a security official telling AFP the death toll was four. The number of those rescued remains unknown.
#Villa #Rose #Hotel Under #Siege by #al-Shabaab Gunmen, Two Ministers Injured, Central #Mogadishu, #Somalia
Read more: https://t.co/4XMqB6LQCw pic.twitter.com/FJKuIeIerU— TRACTerrorism (@TracTerrorism) November 28, 2022
National police spokesman Sadiq Dudise said many civilians and officials had been rescued, but gave no further details.
Shebab members with weapons and explosives stormed the “Villa Rose” hotel, which is located near the presidential residence, in the capital Mogadishu on Sunday. Government officials, among others, were on the premises at the time and, according to a police officer, when the attack took place, some of them escaped through the windows of the hotel.
Eyewitnesses reported two large explosions followed by gunfire that caused the residents of Bondhere district to flee the area. The hotel is a few blocks away from the office of Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
On its website “Villa Rose” is described as “the safest in Mogadishu” with metal detectors and a high perimeter fence.
“Shooting is still heard from inside the hotel and we hear sporadic explosions…we are still locked in our houses since last night when the siege started,” Ismail Haji, who lives near the hotel, told Reuters.
The police operation has been taken over by the special forces, known as Ghassan and Haramkad, according to a police officer who was on the spot and spoke on condition of anonymity.
“Those who launched the attack are still inside the hotel and are still fighting against the forces of Ghassan and Haramqand and the security forces are trying to rescue people trapped inside the hotel,” the officer added.
Government officials in Mogadishu often use the “Villa Rose” hotel for their meetings.
The jihadist group Shebab (“Youth”), which pledges allegiance to al-Qaida and has been waging a guerrilla war since 2007 to topple the Western-backed federal government, claimed responsibility for the attack.
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 organizations. He says he is making territorial gains in the context of the “total war” that the Somali president announced 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 against security forces, government officials and civilians, especially in the capital.
RES-EMP
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