Somali hotel siege ends; chiefs fired after episode

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Security forces ended an overnight siege by militants Sunday at a hotel in Somalia’s capital after a bombing and shootout that killed 23 people, and the government fired its police and intelligence chiefs amid the continuing extremist attacks.

The Cabinet action followed a recommendation by Security Minister Mohamed Abukar Islow. It came hours after the end of the attack on the Nasa-hablod Hotel and two weeks after more than 350 people were killed in a massive truck bombing.

The bloodshed has shaken public confidence in the ability of the military to protect the capital, and many Somalis blame the government for not doing enough.

Al-shabab, Africa’s deadliest Islamic extremist group, claimed responsibility for the latest attack, which began Saturday afternoon when a truck bomb exploded outside the popular hotel.

Al-shabab often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu. Although it quickly claimed responsibility for this weekend’s attack, it has not commented on the massive truck bombing on Oct. 14; experts have said the high death toll might have caused the group to hesitate in claiming responsibility for fear of a backlash from Somali citizens.

President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed said the latest attack was meant to instill fear in the thousands of Somalis who marched through Mogadishu in defiance of al-shabab after the earlier bombing.

Since that blast, the president has visited countries in the region 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 trying to assert itself beyond Mogadishu and other major cities.