Somalia: Mogadishu Hayat hotel attack death toll rises to 21
The roof of the Hayat hotel in Mogadishu was completely destroyed following the fighting between the security forces and the shebabs.
AP - Farah Abdi Warsameh
Text by: RFI Follow
2 mins
In Somalia, the toll is growing after an attack by Al-Shabaab Islamists against a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu.
The Ministry of Health announced on Sunday August 21 that at least 21 people were killed and 117 injured in the attack on the Hayat hotel.
The attack ended on Saturday evening after 30 hours of fighting between Shebabs and Somali security forces.
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The siege of
the Hayat hotel is over
, but search operations continue.
The aim is in particular to secure the area around the establishment, a good part of which is destroyed.
The search for explosives continues because, according to a soldier quoted by Reuters, they were scattered in the hotel, in particular in plastic bags.
The fighting lasted about thirty hours.
This is unheard of for Mogadishu, although the Somali capital is used to incursions
by Shebabs
.
This Sunday morning, the Somalis remain flabbergasted, as this witness tells us at the microphone of AFP: "
I can tell you that what happened here is a disaster that has affected our people at all levels, whether be it the death toll or the destruction of property.
The siege of the hotel lasted approximately 32 hours.
The security forces and the Shebabs fought before our eyes.
As you can see, there are a lot of destroyed buildings here.
These kinds of incidents are repetitive and it is we young people who are always the targets of such attacks.
»
Outstanding issues
The Somali authorities tried to reassure the population, announcing that they had released 106 hostages, mainly women and children.
After this attack, many questions remain unanswered: how could this hotel, which is frequented by ministers and government officials, have been targeted?
Why wasn't it better guarded?
There are also issues of families of missing persons.
This Sunday morning, they were gathered in the street leading to the hotel, but were kept at a distance by the security forces, pending news of their relatives.
►Also read: Somalia: attack by Shebab Islamists in a hotel in Mogadishu
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