Witnesses described hearing the attackers shooting indiscriminately.
Mogadishu:
Three people were killed in an hours-long siege by Al-Shabaab jihadists at a popular hotel near the presidential palace in the Somali capital Mogadishu, police said on Friday.
Armed fighters stormed the SYL hotel late Thursday in a hail of bullets before security forces announced on Friday that they had brought the situation under control after more than 13 hours.
“Three people were killed in the attack and 27 others, including 18 civilians, and nine soldiers were injured,” Somali police spokesman Colonel Qasim Ahmed Roble told a news conference, adding that the number of wounded included three lawmakers.
Security forces also killed five attackers in a gun battle, he added.
“The situation at the hotel is now back to normal,” Roble said.
The attack on the SYL hotel – which has been targeted several times in the past – took place at the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
It broke a relative lull in violence by the al-Qaeda-linked jihadist group, showing that the country was still capable of striking despite a major military offensive against the militants.
“Several armed men entered the building after destroying the perimeter wall with a heavy explosion,” security officer Ahmed Dahir told AFP.
Witnesses described hearing the attackers shooting indiscriminately.
“I don't know about the victims, but there were many people inside when the attack started,” said Hassan Nur, who escaped by climbing a wall.
Other witnesses said police arrived at the hotel within minutes of the attack, leading to a fierce gun battle.
Abdullahi Hassan, who was at a nearby house, said officers arrived in several vehicles and ambulances took away the injured.
'Active and resilient'
The same hotel has been hit several times by Al-Shabaab, most recently in 2019 when five people were killed.
The SYL is close to the Villa Somalia government complex, a high-security area containing the presidential palace, the prime minister's office and government ministries.
“It is a very significant attack that destroys the 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 Al-Shabaab in the past The number of attacks had increased during Ramadan.
“It also serves as a signal from Al-Shabaab that despite this administration's much-vaunted efforts to weaken them, the group remains active and resilient, even capable of striking the government close to home.”
The jihadists have been waging war against the federal government for more than sixteen years and have often targeted hotels where high-ranking Somali and foreign officials reside.
Although Al-Shabaab was driven from the capital by an African Union force, it still maintains a strong presence in rural Somalia and has carried out numerous attacks on political, security and civilian targets.
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 parts of territory in central Somalia in an operation backed by the AU mission known as ATMIS and US airstrikes.
But the offensive has suffered setbacks, with al-Shabaab claiming earlier this week that it had taken control of several locations in the center of the country.
'Unshakable determination'
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud met defense officials on Thursday at a “strategic meeting” to draw up a plan to regain lost territory, Somalia's national news agency SONNA reported.
“The President commended the courageous efforts of the Somali Armed Forces and emphasized the government's unwavering determination to eradicate terrorism,” the report said.
In January, Al-Shabaab took a number of people hostage after a UN helicopter with nine passengers on board made an emergency landing on its territory.
In June last year, six civilians were killed during a six-hour siege of a beach hotel in Mogadishu.
And in August 2022, 21 people were killed and more than 100 injured in a 30-hour siege of the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu.
In October 2022, a hundred people were killed in two car bombings in Mogadishu, the deadliest strike since Mohamud came to power in May that year.
Thursday's attack comes days after the US imposed sanctions on 16 individuals and entities in the Horn of Africa and the Middle East that it accused of laundering money for Al-Shabaab.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
