Mogadishu – A siege by Al-Shabaab Islamist militants of a hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu ended on Friday after more than 13 hours, police said.
“All the terrorist gunmen were killed, and the situation has returned to normal now, the security forces are carrying out a thorough clearance and investigations,” the officer, Abdirahim Yusuf, told AFP.
Sporadic explosions and gunfire rang out from a popular hotel in the Somali capital early on Friday, an AFP correspondent reported earlier, many hours after Al-Shabaab fighters attacked the site near the presidential palace.
Abdullahi Hassan, who was at a nearby house, said the officers arrived in multiple vehicles.
“Two ambulances carried wounded people,” he said.
‘Still active and resilient’
The same hotel has been hit by Al-Shabaab deadly attacks several times in the past, most recently in 2019.
The SYL is close to the main entrance of the Villa Somalia government complex, a high-security area that includes the presidential palace, the prime minister’s office and ministry buildings.
“It is a highly significant attack that shatters a sense of calm in Mogadishu that has developed in recent months following some security reforms,” said Omar Mahmood, senior analyst at the International Crisis Group (ICG), noting that in the past Al-Shabaab assaults had increased during Ramadan.
“It also serves as a signal from Al-Shabaab that despite much heralded efforts by this government to weaken them, the group remains active and resilient, and even able to hit the government close to home.”
The jihadists have been waging war against the internationally backed federal government for more than 16 years and have often targeted hotels, which tend to host high-ranking Somali and foreign officials.
Although the militants were driven out of the capital by an African Union force, they retain a strong presence in rural Somalia and have carried out numerous attacks against political, security and civilian targets, including in Mogadishu.
The beleaguered central government launched a major offensive against the Islamists in August 2022, joining forces with local clan militias.
The army and militias known as “macawisley” have retaken swathes of territory in the centre of the country in an operation backed by an African Union mission known as ATMIS and US air strikes.
But the offensive has suffered setbacks despite early gains, with Al-Shabaab claiming earlier this week that it had taken control of multiple locations in the centre of the country.
‘Unwavering resolve’
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud on Thursday met defence officials in a “strategic meeting” to establish a plan to reclaim the lost territory, Somalia national news agency SONNA reported.
“The president commended the valiant efforts of Somali forces and emphasised the government’s unwavering resolve to eradicate terrorism,” SONNA said.
In January, the militants took a number of people hostage after a UN helicopter carrying nine passengers made an emergency landing in their territory.
In June last year, six civilians were killed in a six-hour siege at a beachside hotel in Mogadishu.
And In August 2022, 21 people were killed and more than 100 injured in a 30-hour siege on the Hayat Hotel in the capital.
In October 2022, 100 people lost their lives and 300 were wounded in twin car bombings in Mogadishu, the deadliest strike since Mohamud took office in May of that year.
Thursday’s attack comes days after the US Treasury slapped sanctions on 16 individuals and entities across the Horn of Africa and the Middle East it accused of laundering money for the militant group.
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Source: AFP
Picture: X/@AbdiKiniin
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