Terrorists kill at least 20 in Somalia hotel attack
Terrorists have shot and killed at least 20 people in a hotel in Somalia’s capital city of Mogadishu on Friday, and have wounded at least 50 others. Two security officials were among those injured at the attack at the Hayat Hotel, one of whom was an intelligence chief.
The Al Qaeda-affiliated group Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack in an online statement.
A local police major said yesterday that many of the gunmen were still holding hostages, and firing at security from inside the hotel while using the hostages as human shields. A local doctor said the death toll would likely rise.
An intelligence officer said the militants had bombed out the stairs to make it harder to access certain floors. Witnesses said that large parts of the hotel were destroyed. Police Major Yasin Haji told CNN…
“We cleared the first and top floors. But they are still in the middle two floors.”
Another police major also said that Somali security forces had managed to mostly regain control from the terrorists.
The Hayat Hotel is a popular spot for lawmakers and other government officials. It has not yet been reported whether any of them were caught in the siege.
Somalia is plagued by civil war and terrorism. Although former US president Donald Trump had withdrawn troops from the country during his presidency, current President Joe Biden redeployed troops there in May.
