MOGADISHU: Somali security forces brought to an end the siege of a hotel in the capital Mogadishu, state media said on Saturday, after the extremist Al-Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the attack.
The rebels, affiliated with Al-Qaeda, have been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government for more than 15 years and have often targeted hotels, which tend to host high-ranking Somali and foreign officials.
The security forces “shot and killed” rebels who carried out “the desperate terrorist attack on the Pearl Beach … in Mogadishu,” SNTV reported on Saturday.
It added that security forces had rescued “many civilians from inside the hotel” and “shot and killed” those responsible.
Security and intelligence sources confirmed the end of the attack to AFP on condition of anonymity.
Witnesses reported hearing gunfire and explosions at the hotel on Lido beach.
Several ambulances were also parked nearby, an AFP journalist saw.
Al-Shabaab has been driven out of Somalia’s main towns and cities but retains power in large swathes of rural areas, and continues to carry out attacks against security and civilian targets, including in the capital.
In August 2020, Al-Shabaab launched a large-scale attack on the Elite, another hotel at Lido beach popular with officials, killing 10 civilians and a police officer. – AFP
