The security forces have ended the siege by militants related to Al Qaeda in a hotel in the Somali capital where more than 20 people were killed and dozens were injured, the authorities said on Sunday. Dozens of people who are held hostage in disputes in the lives of the hotel in Mogadishu are released. The elite armed forces fought the militant for 30 hours from Friday night after the attackers exploded and shot them to the hotel, which was popular among members of parliament and other government officials.
“We have confirmed that as far as 21 people died and 117 others were injured,” Ali Haji, Minister of Health, told SNTV national announcers. Somali security officers drove through the Hayat Hotel section, where Al-Shabaab Group militant attacks connected to Al Qaeda in Mogadishu (Photo: Reuters) “There is a possibility that there are corpses that are not brought to the hospital but are buried by relatives. The death toll and victims are based on numbers brought to the hospital,” added the Minister. Three attackers were shot dead during military operations to end the siege, said Hassan, a police captain who only gave one name.
The fourth was shot dead in the area on Sunday morning when he tried to melt the civilian population, said Hassan, added that the right number of attackers was still unclear. The Al Shabaab group which is connected to Al Qaeda, who has struggled to bring down the government in the horns of African countries for more than a decade, claimed responsibility for the attack.
He wants to set his own rules based on strict interpretation of Islamic law. Friday’s attack on Hayat was the first major incident since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud served in May. The attackers shot and killed civilians who fled to the walls of the hotel complex and their gates that exploded after they attacked, said a police captain who only gave the name Ahmed, added that they killed 10 security personnel with firearms and grenades.
Aden Ali, a survivor, told Reuters that he was drinking a cup of tea in a hotel when he heard the first explosion. He ran towards the combined wall with others when the militants fired at them.”We have a lot of escape, more than a dozen. When I came out of the hotel, I could see eight of us. Maybe the rest died in the shooting,” Ali said. A group of other people at the hotel fled upstairs, where they were killed by the first militants -first detonated the stairs to prevent escape, Ali said. The security forces managed to free some of those who locked themselves in their rooms upstairs after a few hours, he said.
Around 106 people were released, including women and children, said a senior police commander. Residents roam around the hotel that was bombed on Sunday. The building was badly damaged.”We are still investigating the explosion of many plastic bags that have been scattered around the hotel,” said Mohamed Ali, a military officer at the scene.
