San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
After hotel siege, leader promises to restore safety
MOGADISHU, Somalia — Hell began at sunset. It was a Friday evening in Somalia’s capital. The patrons of the Hayat hotel had finished their latest prayers and settled in for coffee, tea or dinner. Families, businesspeople and government workers were there — some of the many who see the promise of their country rebuilding from decades of war.
Hotels are refuges in Mogadishu, but targets, too. The al-Shabab extremist group, affiliated with al Qaeda, for years has carried out complex attacks on them, starting with explosions and holding out for hours as a handful of fighters exchange gunfire with security forces until a bloody morning end.
This time, about 35 hours followed the moment an explosion shattered the Hayat’s peace. It was the longest such attack in Somalia’s history.
Last weekend’s siege could be a turning point for the Horn of Africa nation and its quest for more security. In the days before the attack, new President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud had vowed an offensive against al-Shabab to dislodge it from the large sections of Somalia it has controlled for years.
Horrified Somalis then watched as 21 people at the Hayat were killed and some dismembered, their remains published by al-Shabab in propaganda videos.
Now Somalia’s president vows “total war.” In a national address last week, he spoke with new determination. AlShabab “is like a deadly snake in your clothes,” Mohamud said. “There is no solution
Workers salvage furniture from the destroyed Hayat hotel Wednesday, days after a deadly siege by al-Shabab extremists killed 21 people at the site in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu.
other than to kill it before it kills you.”
The long time it took for Somali security forces to end the siege, and even communicate among themselves, has been questioned and criticized. At first, a paramilitary force trained by Turkey deployed to the hotel but was repulsed by the attackers. Then a group trained by U.S. forces arrived and managed to start rescuing
survivors on the ground floor while containing the gunmen.
Somalia’s prime minister, Hamza Abdi Barre, says those who failed in their response to the attack will be punished.
The four-story hotel, in a highly fortified area near the international airport and government offices, was shattered. Rebuilding, like everything else in today’s global economy, would be expensive with the
rising costs of construction materials.
And yet 67 employees depended on the hotel, a reminder of the fragility in Somalia that remains.
“I’m wondering how these people will continue their lives,” said hotel owner Abdulkadir Mohamud Nur.