At least five people were killed and a dozen injured on Sunday in the attack on a hotel in Mogadishu frequented by government officials, a Somali government security official said.
"There are still sporadic shootings in the hotel, and according to the first information received, there are 5 dead and more than 10 wounded", according to this official. He added that "the death toll" could increase further because the explosion which preceded the attack on the establishment by armed men "was massive" and there are "hostages in the hotel".
Car bomb explosion and gunshots
"There was the explosion of a car bomb targeting the Elite hotel on the Lido beach" and "there are significant gunshots inside the hotel", previously declared Adan Ibrahim, police officer in the area.
Suspected Al-Shabab fighters are reportedly attack Elite Hotel, near Lido Beach in Mogadishu, Somalia.
They are fighting inside the Hotel.
Stay low!
🇸🇴 Somalia: Attack by an al Shabab commando in progress at the Elite hotel at Lido beach in Mogadishu.twitter.com/yfeZE9fQY5
Witnesses confirmed that the attack on the Elite Hotel started with a loud explosion and then people were running from the area of ​​the establishment where gunshots were heard. This type of operation bears the mark of those usually carried out by the Shebab jihadists in the Somali capital.
"The explosion was very strong and I saw smoke in the area, it is chaos and people are fleeing the surrounding buildings", according to one of these witnesses, Ali Sayid Adan.
Exchanges of gunfire in a prison a few days earlier
At least four people were killed in crossfire inside Mogadishu central prison on Monday after prisoners managed to seize weapons held by their guards.
All of the prisoners involved in the incident were radical Shebab Islamists, some of whom were serving life sentences, a police official said on condition of anonymity.
Driven from the Somali capital in 2011, the shebab then lost most of their strongholds. But they still control vast rural areas from where they carry out guerrilla operations and suicide attacks, including in the capital, against government, security or civilian objectives.
Affiliated with Al-Qaeda, they swore the loss of the Somali government, supported by the international community and by the 20,000 men of the African Union force in Somalia (Amisom).
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- Jihadism
- Explosion
- Terrorism
- Somalia
- Mogadishu
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