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Gunmen kill at least 10 in attack on Mogadishu hotel Gunmen kill at least 15 in attack on Mogadishu hotel
(about 4 hours later)
At least 10 people have been killed in Mogadishu after a suspected al-Shabaab militant crashed his vehicle into a gate outside a hotel frequented by diplomats, and gunmen stormed the building. At least 15 people have been killed in Mogadishu after a suspected al-Shabaab militant crashed his vehicle into a gate outside a hotel frequented by diplomats, and gunmen stormed the building.
The al-Qaida-affiliated militant group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack on the Hotel Ambassador in the Somali capital.
A Mogadishu police officer, Col Ali Mohamed, said: “We believe there are some fighters in the hotel but we are not sure.”
Another officer, Maj Ibrahim Hassan, added: “So far we have confirmed three people died and a dozen others injured.”
Police later confirmed 10 people were killed in the attack and warned the toll was likely to rise.
Maka al-Mukaram, where the hotel is located, is a major street lined with hotels, restaurants and banks in the heart of the capital. It links another major artery, K4, to the presidential palace.
Related: Al-Shabaab attack on Mogadishu hotel kills 14 civiliansRelated: Al-Shabaab attack on Mogadishu hotel kills 14 civilians
In February, at least nine people were killed when al-Shabaab fighters set off a car bomb at the gate of a popular park near a hotel in the capital. In January, an attack on a beachfront restaurant killed at least 17 people. The al-Qaida-affiliated militant group quickly claimed responsibility for the attack on the Hotel Ambassador in the Somali capital. “We targeted the members of the apostate government ... We killed many of them inside and we shall give details later. Our mujahideen are on the top floor of the hotel building,” Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, told Reuters.
Al-Shabaab, which seeks to topple Somalia’s government, was driven out of Mogadishu by the African Union force Amisom in 2011, and last year was ousted from strongholds elsewhere in the south by Amisiom and the Somali National Army. Authorities could not immediately verify al-Shabaab’s statement.
In other incidents, Somali security forces killed 17 al-Shabaab fighters, including the head of their intelligence unit, and a man suspected of orchestrating a deadly attack on a Kenyan university in 2015, government officials said. Major Ibrahim Hassan, a police officer, told Reuters that two lawmakers were among those killed. “Lawmakers Mohamud Mohamed and Abdullahi Jamac died in the hotel. They lived in it. Many other people including lawmakers were rescued. The operation is about to end now. So far the death toll we have is 15 dead and 20 others wounded.”
In one incident, the Mogadishu municipality spokesman, Abdifatah Omar, said security forces killed a man known only as Daud who headed al-Shabaab’s intelligence wing, known as Amniyat. Omar did not say when he was killed or give other details. Residents and a Reuters reporter at the scene of the attack said they could still hear sporadic gunfire.
In the second incident, Abdirashid Hassan Abdi, the semi-autonomous Jubbaland region’s security minister, said its forces had killed 16 al-Shabaab fighters in Bulagadud, about 30 km (19 miles) north of the Indian Ocean port of Kismayu. Colonel Ali Mohamed, a Mogadishu police officer, said the hotel was hit by a car bomb that rammed its gate.
Among the dead, he said, was Mohamud Ali Dulyadeyn, suspected to have been the mastermind of an April 2015 attack on Garissa University that killed 148 people, the worst such assault in Kenya in almost 20 years. Four of those killed were al-Shabaab officials. Hassan had said earlier that police suspected al-Shabaab fighters were still present in the hotel. Radio Mogadishu, a state-run station, had said government forces were still at the scene rescuing people from the hotel.
“We also seized this car which belonged to Dulyadeyn. The four al Shabaab officials including Dulyadeyn were responsible for masterminding explosions,” he added. Al-Shabaab was pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011. But it has remained a potent threat in Somalia, launching frequent attacks aimed at overthrowing the western-backed government.
Al-Shabaab, which aims to impose its strict version of Islamic law across Somalia, made no immediate comment on the killings. In February at least nine people were killed when al-Shabaab fighters set off a car bomb at the gate of a park near a hotel in the capital. In January an attack on a beach-front restaurant killed at least 17 people .
Al-Shabaab has also been behind deadly attacks in Kenya and Uganda. Both contribute troops to an African Union peacekeeping force in Somalia.
Maka al-Mukaram, where Wednesday’s attack took place, is a major street lined with hotels, restaurants and banks in the heart of the capital. It links another major artery, K4, to the presidential palace.
On Wednesday, before the hotel attack, government officials announced two strikes against the militants – in one of which the head of the al-Shabaab intelligence unit was killed. The other killed the suspected mastermind of an attack on a university in Kenya last year, in which 148 people died.
Abdifatah Omar, Mogadishu’s municipality spokesman, said that security forces had killed a man known only as Daud who had headed al-Shabaab’s intelligence wing, known as Amniyat. Omar did not say when he was killed or give any other details.
In the second incident, Abdirashid Hassan Abdi, the semi-autonomous Jubbaland region’s security minister, said its forces had killed 16 al-Shabaab fighters in Bulagadud, around 30km to the north of the Indian Ocean port of Kismayu.
Among the dead, he said, was Mohamud Ali Dulyadeyn, suspected to have masterminded the April 2015 attack on Garissa University, the worst such assault in Kenya in almost 20 years.
The Pentagon also said on Wednesday that a US airstrike had targeted a senior leader of al-Shabaab in Somalia but it was still assessing the results of the 27 May drone operation.
The Pentagon’s spokesman, Peter Cook, said the target, Abdullahi Haji Da’ud, was one of al-Shabaab’s senior military planners and served as a principal coordinator of attacks in Somalia, Kenya and Uganda.
Al-Shabaab, which aims to impose its own strict version of Islamic law across Somalia, had no immediate comment on the killings announced by Somali authorities.