Hotel under siege by al Shabaab
SOMALI security forces stormed a hotel in the capital yesterday, ending a siege by al Shabaab militants following a nearly day-long battle in which at least nine people were killed, police said.
Gunfire crackled from inside a Mogadishu hotel yesterday as Somalia’s special forces battled al Shabaab militants more than 12 hours after the Islamist group stormed the building in the heart of the capital.
The assault underscores the continuing ability of the al Qaeda-allied militants to stage deadly attacks, with sometimes high casualties, inside the city, even as President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government pursues an offensive against them.
“The operation at the hotel Rosa has been concluded,” Sadik Aden Ali, a police spokesperson said. Ali said the militants had killed eight civilians and later added that one soldier had also died in the hotel siege.
Five soldiers were also injured in the gunfight, he said, adding that six al Shabaab fighters had been involved in the attack on the hotel. “One blew himself up and five were shot dead by the security forces,” Ali said, adding that 60 civilians had been rescued.
On Sunday night, the militants stormed The Villa Rose hotel, near the presidential residence, shooting and setting off explosives. Some government officials who were inside escaped via its windows, police said.
Special forces units, known as Gaashaan and Haramcad, had taken over operations, an officer at the scene said.
Government officials in Mogadishu frequently use the Villa Rosa hotel for meetings. Somalia’s parliament said it had postponed a scheduled session for both its houses yesterday as the siege unfolded.
Al Shabaab, which controls large swathes of the country, claimed responsibility for the attack. It said in a statement it was targeting the nearby presidential palace.
Somalia’s environment minister, Adam Aw Hirsi, tweeted that he survived the attack. He said the attack on Villa Rays, where he and other government officials reside, was by no means a manifestation of emboldened terrorists. “To the contrary, the desperate move shows that the terror kingpins running for dear life are throwing their last kicks,” Hirsi said. “We’ll not let up the war.”
Somalia government forces, supported by clan militias and, at times, African Union troops and US air strikes, have made a number of battlefield gains in offensive against al Shabaab over the past three months.
The US military has conducted several air strikes against the al Shabaab this year, but it was not clear whether it was involved in yesterday’s battle. Despite being pushed back, al Shabaab has still been able to stage large attacks on civilian and military targets.
Al Shabaab, which seeks to topple the government and establish its own rule, based on an extreme interpretation of Islamic law, often stages attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere.