Somalia’s security forces end hours-long Mogadishu hotel siege

A police spokesman said al-Shabaab militants stormed a popular hotel in Mogadishu, killing at least eight civilians.

Al Shabaab has stepped up attacks against civilian and military targets as Somalia’s newly elected government has adopted a policy of “all-out war” against the militants. (Reuters)

Somalia’s security forces have ended a deadly hour-long siege by al-Shabaab militants at a popular hotel in the capital Mogadishu, a national police spokesman said.

“The evacuation operation at the Villa Rose hotel is over, we will give details later,” Sadiq Dudishe, a spokesman for the Somali national police, told reporters on Monday.

At least eight civilians were killed in the siege, according to a police spokesman.

A few blocks from the office of Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, a gunfight broke out between Somalian security forces and militants at a hotel in a safe central part of the city frequented by lawmakers and public officials.

Eyewitnesses described a hail of gunfire following the two massive explosions in Bondhere district, causing people to flee the scene.

Al Shabaab, a terrorist organization affiliated with Al Qaeda, which has been trying to overthrow Somalia’s central government for 15 years, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS), a 20,000-strong military force from across the continent, praised the “swift” security response to the attack in a statement late Sunday.

Read more: Heavy gunfire, explosion heard at hotel near Somali presidential palace

series of counter-attacks

Al Shabaab has stepped up attacks against civilian and military targets as Somalia’s newly elected government has adopted a policy of “all-out war” against the militants.

Security forces, backed by local militias, ATMIS and US airstrikes, have driven al-Shabaab from central parts of the country in recent months, but the offensive has retaliated.

On 29 October, two explosives-laden cars exploded minutes apart in Mogadishu, followed by a shootout, killing at least 121 people and injuring 333 others.

It was the deadliest attack in five years in the fragile Horn of Africa country.

At least 21 people were killed in a siege on a hotel in Mogadishu in August, which lasted 30 hours before security forces wrested control from militants inside.

The United Nations said earlier this month that at least 613 civilians were killed and 948 injured in violence in Somalia this year, mostly caused by improvised explosive devices (IEDs) linked to Al Shabaab.

The figures were the highest since 2017 and an increase of over 30 per cent from last year.

Read more:
Somalia kills dozens of Al Shabaab terrorists in military operation

Source: TRTworld and agencies

Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Previous post Chinese, Lao militaries hold third border defense friendship exchange
Next post KUNA : Europe, Africa commit to promote rules-based international order – Politics