Mogadishu hotel targeted by bomb, at least 10 killed

A huge blast went off in a hotel frequented by government officials in a heavily fortified district of the Somali capital on Sunday, killing at least 10 people.

The bombs came in quick succession and were followed by heavy bursts of gunfire by security guards of the hotel.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Islamist rebel group al Shabaab has carried out a campaign of attacks over the past two and a half years in Mogadishu.

“First we heard a big crash and the security forces immediately opened fire,” said Abdullahi Hussein who lives 300 meters behind the hotel.

The attacks on the Jazira hotel, one of the securest places in Mogadishu and neighbouring with Adan Adde Airport comes less than a week after Al-Shabab lost control of two stratigic towns Bardere and Diinsoor to the government forces backed by AMISOM troops.

Islamist suicide bombers attacked the Jazeera hotel twice in September 2012 and 2014 claiming lives 16 people and injured other dozens.

Despite major setbacks the group, al-Shabab continues to wage a deadly insurgency against Somalia’s government and remains a threat in Somalia and the East African region.

The group has carried out many attacks in Somalia and in neighboring countries, including Kenya, whose armies are part of the African Union troops bolstering Somalia’s weak U.N.- backed government.

 

 

Picture courtesy: BBC somali Service