View of vehicles parked near the scene of a suicide bomb attack outside Nasahablood hotel in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on June 25, 2016. Photo: AP
At least 14 people were killed when gunmen stormed a hotel in Somalia’s capital and took an unknown number of hotel guests hostage, police and medical workers said Saturday, before security forces hunted down the attackers and ended an hours-long assault that began with an explosives-laden vehicle blowing up at the hotel gate.
Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the latest in a series of hotel attacks in Mogadishu.
“We have finally ended the siege. The last remaining militants were killed on the top floor,” police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said after security forces pursued the gunmen who had retreated to upper floors of the Nasa-Hablod hotel, setting up sniper posts on the roof and throwing grenades. Police said at least four gunmen were involved in the attack.
“We have so far confirmed the deaths of 14 people. Some of them died in the hospitals,” Hussein said. The deaths included women who were selling khat, a stimulant leaf popular with Somali men, outside the hotel, he said.
Hussein said security forces killed two of the attackers. Police and medical workers said another nine people were wounded in the assault.
Police said the attack began when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the hotel entrance, ripping off its gate. Gunmen fought their way inside, and a witness said they began shooting randomly at hotel guests.
A Somali government soldier holds his position during gunfire after a suicide bomb attack outside Nasahablood hotel in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on June 25, 2016.
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Source:: PM Newspaper
