Al-Shabaab claims attack on popular hotel in Mogadishu Somalia

-
An ambulance carrying a victim from an attack by Al-Shabaab gunmen on a hotel near the presidential residence arrives at the Shaafi hospital in Mogadishu.

Security forces ended a deadly attack at a hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Tuesday after a seven-hour battle that left at least three civilians and two soldiers dead.

The attack began when five heavily armed gunmen overpowered security guards and stormed the upscale SYL hotel, according to police and government officials.
Eleven people were injured, including two members of the country's security forces, police said.

The attackers, claimed by terrorist group Al-Shabaab, began shooting at responding Somali security forces, said police officer Ali Abdi.
All five attackers were killed in the firefight, officials said.

"The security forces have finally accomplished the operation they have been conducting in SYL hotel, the entire of the 5 attackers have been killed, (and) 5 people have been killed in the attack," government spokesman Ismail Mukhtar tweeted early Wednesday.

Dozens of people were evacuated from the hotel, he also said. The SYL is close to the presidential palace and is popular with Somali lawmakers and security officials, according to local police.

Hassan Ahmed, who was in a nearby building when the attack unfolded, told CNN he heard the sound of explosions coming from inside the hotel.

Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement its fighters conducted the raid as planned. CNN could not confirm the claim.
Police warned the death toll could rise.

Source: CNN


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

UN experts to hear recording of Jamal Khashoggi’s murder

-
Image
File: Murdered Journalist Jamal Khashoggi A visiting United Nations-sponsored team of legal and forensic experts will listen to voice recordings related to the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, a Turkish official says. “They will listen to the voice recordings,” Yasin Aktay, an Adviser to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, told reporters in Ankara, where he met UN human rights expert Agnes Callamard and her team. The UN visit comes nearly four months after Khashoggi, a Saudi national and vocal critic of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, was murdered inside Riyadh’s consulate in Istanbul.  Saudi Arabia insists that his death was a “rogue operation” and has put 11 defendants on trial for the crime. Turkey, however, has questioned the credibility of Riyadh’s inquiry. In November, Mr Erdogan pointed to the “highest levels of the Saudi government” as ordering the murder. He said Turkey shared the murder recordings with several countries, including Germany a...
Read more

Somalia Ordered UN Especial Envoy Nockolas Haysom to leave

-
Image
Mogadishu- Somali government has ordered the top United Nations   top envoy in the country to leave, accusing him of interfering with national sovereignty. The foreign affairs ministry said on Tuesday that Nicholas Haysom, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Somalia, "is not required and cannot work in this country", referring him as 'persona non grata'. Haysom, UN's Especial Envoy for Somalia, who was accused for local issues interference by the SFG in Mogadishu sent a letter on December 30 to the Ministry of Internal security, regarding "the alleged involvement of UN-supported Somali security forces in the arrest of Mukhtar Robow on 13 December, the deaths of 15 civilians...on 13, 14, and 15 December...and the arrest of approximately 300 people involved in the demonstrations from 13-15 December last year. Somalia's foreign minster Ahmed Isse Awad told to the BBC Somalia " Mr Haysom has violated diplomatic rules, an...
Read more

Somalia ensured calm diplomatic tension with Kenya

-
Image
The Somali government has moved to calm diplomatic tensions following Kenya's decision to recall its ambassador to Mogadishu and instruct Somalia's ambassador to leave Nairobi.  The two counties are embroiled in a dispute over their maritime territorial boundary. The area in question covers an estimated 100,000 square kilometers of the Indian Ocean; the land beneath it purportedly holds large deposits of oil and gas.  In a statement issued Sunday evening, the Somali government denied that it had auctioned off exploration rights at a Feb. 7 Somalia oil and gas conference in London, saying it had merely  presented maps and seismic surveys . The government also said it would not undertake any other unilateral action in the disputed territory until the case is decided by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. A court date has not yet been set. On Saturday, Kenya's foreign ministry recalled Ambassador Lucas Tumbo from Mogadishu to Nairobi. The m...
Read more