Al-Shabaab has laid claims to the detonation of a car bomb at the entrance of a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu. Reuters reports that the Islamic militants also opened fire inside the lobby, killing at least 28 people, according to government officials and medical workers. The attack began on Wednesday morning when the militants rammed a car into the gate of Dayah Hotel, located near the Somali parliament, and proceeded to storm inside and exchange gunfire with security guards.
Reports suggest that a second blast went off shortly thereafter, injuring at least four journalists who had arrived to report on the attack. “We have confirmed 28 people died and 43 others injured in the two blasts at the hotel,” Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of the Mogadishu ambulance service, told Reuters. Al-Shabaab controlled much of Somalia until August 2011, when African Union and Somali forces drove the terrorist group out of its major strongholds, including Mogadishu.
However, its remaining members continue to launch terrorist attacks in an effort to overthrow the government and implement Sharia law in the country.
Post a Comment