At least nine people were killed and several got injured in a weekend attack at a hotel in Somalia’s capital, Mogadishu, by al-Shabaab militants, reported Reuters.
A suicide car bomb exploded on Sunday evening and was followed by a shootout between the security forces and al Shabaab militants at the Hotel Afrik. The security forces ended the eight-hour-long siege early on Monday.
“The operation is over now. Nine people including four attackers died and over 10 civilians were injured. There is no electricity,” said police spokesman, Sadik Ali.
The Afrik hotel is in a heavily guarded area located near the city’s main airport and is often frequented by government officials, opposition politicians, and humanitarian workers.
A retired army general, four members of the al-Qaeda affiliated insurgent group, and five civilians were killed in the attack. More than ten people were wounded and rushed to nearby hospitals in the capital for treatment.
In a statement, Somalia’s Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble said that among those killed was a former military general, Mohamed Nur Galal.
“My heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the heinous terror attack in Hotel Afrik, including Gen Mohamed Nur Galal, who served his country with valor for over 50 years,” Somalia’s Prime Minister Roble said in a short statement posted on Twitter. “This attack is yet another reminder of the savage enemy we face. We must unite against terror.”
The Somalia Police also said that during the operation, dozens of people including government officials and civilians had been rescued from the violence.
Since 2008, Al Shabaab has been trying to overthrow Somalia’s central government and establish its rule, based on its own harsh interpretation of Islamic law. The militant group carries out regular gun and bomb attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in Somalia.
In December, the Islamist insurgent group claimed responsibility for a truck bombing outside Mogadishu that killed 85 including two Turkish citizens.
