At least 13 civilians were murdered and many were injured in an attack by Islamist militants on a hotel in the Somali capital, according to officials on Saturday, as security forces fought gunmen holed inside for many hours.
Friday evening, fighters from the Al-Qaeda branch Al-Shabaab attacked the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu amid gunfire and bombings.
Officials report that a significant number of individuals, including children, have been rescued.
Saturday afternoon gunfire and loud explosions could be heard intermittently, although it is difficult to confirm specifics due to the turmoil.
It is the largest attack in Mogadishu since Somalia’s new president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, was elected in May, following several months of political unrest.
Al-Shabaab, which has waged a violent insurgency against the weak government of the nation in the Horn of Africa for 15 years, has claimed responsibility.
“Five more civilians have been verified deceased, bringing the total number of people slain by terrorists to 13,” said security commander Mohamed Abdikadir to AFP.
Dozens of residents, including children, who were trapped in the building were rescued by the security forces.
Police officer Ibrahim Duale confirmed that more than ten people had been killed, but stated that updated information would be released once the siege had ended. “The security forces will announce any moment that the siege is over, it took a long time due to the complexity of the rescue mission,” Duale told AFP.
Mohamed Abdirahman Jama, the head of Mogadishu’s primary trauma hospital, stated that the facility was treating at least 40 individuals injured in the hotel bombing and a separate mortar attack in a different part of the capital.
A bombing injures newlyweds.
Dozens of individuals gathered in front of the four-story hotel to learn the fate of loved ones.
Anxious Muudey Ali explained, “We had been searching for a relative who was stuck inside the hotel; she was proven dead along with six others, two of whom I knew.”
There has been no official statement from the government, but both IGAD and Turkey, which has a military presence in Somalia, have issued harsh condemnations.
Mucawiye Muddey, the district commissioner, told AFP that a barrage of mortar bombs struck the Hamar Jajab neighborhood along the coast.
“Among the critically injured are a newlywed couple, as well as three children, their mother, and their father,” he said.
This incident was not immediately attributed to anyone.
On Friday, witnesses reported hearing at least two large explosions as gunmen rushed the hotel, a favorite location for government officials near the airport road.
Abdifatah Adan Hassan, a police spokesman, told reporters on Friday that the initial explosion was triggered by a suicide bomber who entered the hotel with other shooters.
A few minutes later, according to witnesses, a second explosion happened, causing further injuries as rescuers, security officers, and citizens raced to the area.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility in a brief statement posted on a pro-Shabaab website, claiming that its members were conducting “random shooting” within the hotel.
Abdiaziz Abu-Musab, the group’s spokesman, stated on Saturday on the group’s Andalus radio that its forces were still in control of the building and had inflicted “many casualties.”
Since Mohamud seized president, Al-Shabaab members have conducted multiple attacks in Somalia and began attacks on the Ethiopian border, raising fears about a possible new strategy.
The United States stated earlier this week that 13 Al-Shabaab operatives had been killed in an air attack, the latest such incident since US President Joe Biden ordered the re-establishment of a US troop presence in Somalia, reversing a decision made by his predecessor Donald Trump.
Decades of anarchy
Last month, Mohamud stated that resolving the jihadist insurgency would require more than a military solution, but that his administration would not talk with the organization until the time was ripe.
Al-Shabaab was expelled from the city in 2011 by an African Union force, but it continues to launch fatal attacks against political, civilian, and military targets, with hotels and restaurants frequently being targeted.
This month, new Prime Minister Hamza Abdi Barre appointed the group’s former deputy leader and spokesman, Muktar Robow, to the position of minister of religion.
Robow, 53, defected from Al-Shabaab in 2017, with the US government advertising a $5 million reward for his capture at one time.
Since the overthrow of Siad Barre’s military rule in 1991, Somalia has been in a state of anarchy.
His removal was followed by civil conflict and the rise of Al-Shabaab.
In October 2017, 512 people were killed after an explosives-laden truck exploded in Mogadishu’s commercial center.
The United Nations reports that in addition to the conflict, Somalia is experiencing a severe drought that has forced one million people from their homes and placed the country on the brink of famine.