Somalia sacks security chiefs amid string of terrorist attacks
Somali security forces end a night-long siege at a Mogadishu hotel by killing three terrorists and capturing two
Somalia’s cabinet yesterday voted to fire the police and intelligence chiefs in response to a recommendation by Somalia’s security minister Mohammad Abu Kar Islow after two serious extremist attacks in the capital this month.
Islow said in a statement that five people have been arrested in connection with the massive bomb on October 14 which killed over 350 people. Meanwhile, Somali security forces ended a night-long siege at a Mogadishu hotel by five extremist attackers who stormed the building after a suicide car bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the entrance gate on Saturday afternoon. The attack killed 23 people
Troops regained control of the Nasa-Hablod hotel yesterday morning, having killed three attackers and captured two alive, said Capt. Mohammad Hussain.
Al Shabab, Africa’s deadliest Islamist extremist group, quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.
The assault started Saturday afternoon when a suicide truck bomb exploded outside the popular hotel in the capital. The blast twisted vehicles and caused massive damage to nearby buildings which were left with only their walls standing.
The attackers invaded the hotel and gunfire continued as security forces fought them inside the building. Two more blasts were heard, one when an attacker detonated a suicide vest.
Among the 30 injured in Saturday’s siege was a government minister, who was rescued from the hotel as heavy gunfire continued during the shoot-out. Some extremists hurled grenades and cut off the building’s electricity as night fell.
The dead included a mother and three children, including a baby, all shot in the head, Hussain said.
Police among victims
Other victims included a senior Somali police colonel, a former lawmaker and a former government minister.
Saturday’s bomber had pretended his truck had broken down outside the gate, said Col. Mohammad Abdullahi. The bomber stopped outside the heavily fortified hotel and pretended to repair the truck before detonating it, he said.
Although it quickly claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack, Al Shabab has not commented on the massive attack two weeks back.
Somalia President Mohammad Abdullahi Mohammad said the new attack was meant to instill fear in Somalis who had united after the October 14 bombing, marching in the thousands through Mogadishu in defiance of Al Shabab.
Since the blast two weeks ago, the president has visited regional countries to seek more support for the fight against Al Shabab, vowing a “state of war.”
He also faces the challenge of pulling together regional powers inside his long-fractured country, where the federal government is only now trying to assert itself beyond Mogadishu and other major cities.
A 22,000-strong multinational African Union force in Somalia is expected to withdraw its forces and hand over the country’s security to the Somali military by the end of 2020.
US military officials in recent months have expressed concern that Somali forces are not yet ready to take over.