Six civilians and three members of the security forces were killed during an assault carried out by Islamists from the Al Shabab group on a hotel in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia. The attack, which lasted six hours, was confirmed by police on Saturday. Al Shabab, an Al Qaeda-affiliated jihadist group, has been waging an insurgency against the internationally-backed Somali federal government for more than 15 years, and has attacked hotels frequented by senior local and foreign officials on multiple occasions.
In a statement, Somali police reported that “six civilians lost their lives in the attack (…) and ten others were injured.” Three brave members of the security forces also “lost their lives.” In addition, 84 people were rescued from the Pearl Beach Hotel.
The assault, claimed by Al Shabab, began at around 8 p.m. on Friday, and seven attackers took control of the Pearl Beach Hotel, located next to Lido Beach. The standoff lasted until the early hours of the morning, when police reported that all the Islamists involved in the attack had been neutralized.
According to eyewitnesses, gunshots and explosions were heard in the hotel. One of the witnesses, Abdirahim Ali, told AFP that he was near the Pearl Beach restaurant when a loud explosion went off in front of the building. Another witness, Yaasin Nur, who was in the restaurant at the time, mentioned that the place was crowded due to a recent renovation.
Although major cities in the country were driven out of Al Shabab between 2011 and 2012, the group still maintains a strong presence in rural areas. Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has declared an “all-out war” against them and launched a military offensive backed by US bombings in September. However, Al Shabab continues to carry out bloody reprisal attacks, demonstrating its ability to target both the country’s city centers and military installations.