This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/13/suicide-attack-on-hotel-kills-at-least-seven-in-somalia

The article has changed 9 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 2 Version 3
Militant attack on Somalia hotel leaves at least 26 dead Somali forces end siege at hotel raided by militants that killed 26
(about 2 hours later)
At least 26 people have been killed in an attack on a hotel in southern Somalia claimed by al-Shabaab, an official has said. Special forces in Somalia have ended an all-night siege at a hotel raided by armed Islamic militants, officials have said.
Gunmen stormed the Medina hotel in the port city of Kismayo after a suicide bomber drove a vehicle loaded with explosives into the building on Friday. The death toll from the attack in the southern port city of Kismayo, which began on Friday evening, has risen to 26 people, including a prominent Canadian-Somali journalist and several foreigners.
A Briton, Americans, Kenyans and Tanzanians were among the dead, said Ahmed Mohamed, the president of the autonomous Jubaland region, while a presidential candidate for the upcoming regional elections was also killed. Four attackers were shot dead, a police officer said. The victims include one Briton, three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans and one Canadian, said Ahmed Madobe Islam, the president of the Jubaland regional state that controls Kismayo.
Witnesses said a social media activist, her husband and a local journalist were among those killed. He told reporters that 56 people, including two Chinese, were injured.
Hussein Muktar, who witnessed the attack, said: “The blast was very big. There is chaos inside; I saw several dead bodies carried from the scene, and people are fleeing from the nearby buildings.” At least four al-Shabaab militants attacked the Asasey hotel, which is popular with politicians, foreigners and lawmakers. A suicide car bomb demolished the entrance gate, allowing gunmen to storm the main building.
The Somali journalists’ association said two journalists based in Kismayo were killed in the attack. “Mohamed Omar Sahal, [an] SBC TV correspondent based in Kismayo, and Hodan Naleyeh, [a] female TV journalist and [the] founder of Integration TV, are both among those killed,” said Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, the assocation’s secretary general. Naleyeh had recently returned from Canada, he said. Troops fought for more than 12 hours before eventually killing all attackers inside the hotel compound, said Col Abdiqadir Nur, a police officer.
They were the first journalists to be killed in Somalia this year, the association said. Hotels are a favourite target of al-Shabaab, which claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack is the latest in a long line of bombings and shootings claimed by al-Shabaab. Analysts said the operation had all the hallmarks of the group, which often uses suicide car bombs to blast through defences of heavily fortified targets.
“Mujahideen fighters carried out a martyrdom attack on one of the hotels accommodating the apostate officials of the Jubaland administration,” the group said. The group was also behind the massive truck bomb in Mogadishu in 2017 that killed more than 500 people.
According to several sources, most of those staying at the hotel were politicians and traders preparing for the upcoming regional elections. Despite its proximity to some major al-Shabaab strongholds, Kismayo has been relatively quiet in recent years.
Al-Shabaab, which declared allegiance to al-Qaida in 2012, has fought for more than a decade to topple the Somali government. Hodan Nalayeh, a Canadian journalist, and her husband, Farid Jama Suleiman, died in the attack, confirmed the Mogadishu-based independent radio station Radio Dalsan.
The militant group, estimated to number between 5,000 and 9,000, continues to control swathes of rural Somalia despite losing many strongholds across the country, including areas of the capital, Mogadishu. Omar Suleiman, a Texas-based imam who knew the journalist, wrote on social media: “I’m absolutely devastated by the news of the death of our dear sister Hodan Nalayeh and her husband in a terrorist attack in Somalia today. What a loss to us. Her beautiful spirit shined through her work and the way she treated people.”
Nalayeh was born in Somalia in 1976, but spent most of her life in Canada, first in Alberta and then Toronto. She founded Integration TV, an international web-based video production company aimed at Somali viewers around the world. She was the first female Somali media owner.
Al-Shabaab, which is an official affiliate of al-Qaida, has been waging a war for more than a decade to overthrow Somalia’s western-backed central government and install its own rule based on its strict interpretation of sharia law.
In March, the group killed five people, including the deputy labour minister, in an attack on a government building in the capital, Mogadishu.
The US has ramped up its support for the government in Somalia, deploying hundreds of special forces soldiers, and frequently uses drones to attack the militants.
In March 2017, Donald Trump approved greater authority for military operations against al-Shabaab, allowing increased actions in support of the African Union Mission in Somalia and Somali forces.
The pace of US airstrikes in Somalia has escalated during the Trump administration. There were 47 in 2018 and have been 50 so far this year.
Earlier this year, a report by Amnesty International claimed attacks have killed or wounded nearly two dozen civilians, and said the Pentagon is not adequately investigating potential casualties.
Al-Shabaab operations have been disrupted by the strikes, though the group’s hold on swaths of territory in central and southern Somalia remains strong.
SomaliaSomalia
Al-ShabaabAl-Shabaab
AfricaAfrica
Middle East and North AfricaMiddle East and North Africa
Al-Qaida
newsnews
Share on FacebookShare on Facebook
Share on TwitterShare on Twitter
Share via EmailShare via Email
Share on LinkedInShare on LinkedIn
Share on PinterestShare on Pinterest
Share on WhatsAppShare on WhatsApp
Share on MessengerShare on Messenger
Reuse this contentReuse this content