Suicide bombs rock Mogadishu
TWO suicide car bombs exploded outside a hotel in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Saturday, killing at least 18 people two weeks after the death of more than 350 in a truck explosion in the city.
The first death car rammed into the hotel before jihadists stormed the building. A few minutes later another car exploded nearby, leaving more than 30 people wounded.
Al-Shabab, Africa’s deadliest Islamic extremist group, quickly claimed responsibility for the attacks and said its fighters were inside the Nasa-Hablod hotel in the Hamarweyne district of the city.
Captain Mohamed Hussein said security forces were battling extremists holed up on the top floor of the building.
More than 20 innocents were trapped inside.
He said a third explosion occurred when an attacker detonated a suicide vest.
The popular hotel, close to the Presidential Palace, is frequented by politicians and other members of Mogadishu’s elite.
The attackers hurled grenades and cut off the building’s electricity as night fell.
Sporadic gunfire could be heard as soldiers responded.
A senior Somali police colonel and a former MP were among the dead, Capt Hussein told reporters.
Mohamed Dek Haji said he survived the bombing as he walked beside a parked car that was largely destroyed by the explosion.
He said he saw at least three armed men in military uniforms running towards the hotel after the suicide bombing at its gate.
“I think they were al-Shabab fighters who were trying to storm the hotel,” he said in hospital after suffering small injuries to a shoulder and his skull from flying glass.
Al-Shabab fighters have disguised themselves in previous attacks by wearing military uniforms.