An attack by Shebab radical Islamists on a hotel in Mogadishu, in which gunfire and explosions were heard, caused casualties on Friday August 19, according to security sources and eyewitnesses. A fierce gun battle erupted between security forces and jihadists still holed up inside the Hayat Hotel in the Somali capital, security official Abdukadir Hassan said. “A huge explosion was heard a few minutes before the attackers forcefully entered the hotel,” Hassan said.
“We have no details so far, but there are casualties and security forces are now battling the enemy who are holed up in the building,” he added. Rescue workers reported at least three people injured, while eyewitnesses said two others were injured.
Somali police spokesman Abdifatah Adan Hassan said a short time later that the first explosion had been caused by a suicide bomber. The attackers ” are now in battle with the police, they will be neutralised very quickly”, he added. By Friday evening, it was not clear whether security forces had regained control of the hotel or not.
Eyewitnesses said a second blast had occurred minutes after the first explosion, killing rescue workers, security forces and civilians who had rushed to the hotel after the first blast. “The area is now cordoned off and there are exchanges of fire between the attackers and the security forces,” said a witness, Mohamed Salad.
The Shebab, an Islamist group linked to Al-Qaeda that has been in a 15-year insurgency against the Somali federal government, claimed responsibility for the attack. “A group of Shebab attackers violently entered Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu, the militants fired indiscriminately into the hotel,” the grouping posted in a brief statement on a pro-Shebab website. L’Union