An attack by Shebab on a hotel in Mogadishu was underway on Friday evening, showing the ability of radical Islamists to continue to strike in the Somali capital.
The Al-Shabaab, who claimed responsibility for the attack, saying they targeted a place frequented by the authorities, attacked "a hotel on Lido beach", south of Mogadishu, the government said in a statement.
In the evening, gunshots were still heard and ambulances were seen next to the hotel, an AFP journalist noted.
“Security forces rescued many people from the building and the operation is still ongoing,” he added.
"I was near the Pearl Beach restaurant (on the Lido beach) when a loud explosion occurred in front of the building. I managed to escape but there was heavy gunfire afterwards and the Security forces rushed into the area," witness Abdirahim Ali told AFP.
"The restaurant was full of people because it was recently renovated," said Yaasin Nur, another witness, who said he was "worried" for two of his colleagues who were on the scene and "don't no longer answer their phones.
In August 2020, the shebabs launched a major attack on the Elite, another hotel on the Lido beach, killing ten civilians and a policeman. It took the security forces four hours to regain control of the establishment.
The Shebab, affiliated with Al-Qaeda and who demand the establishment of Islamic law in the country, have been fighting for more than fifteen years the federal government supported by the international community.
Driven out of the main cities of the country in 2011-2012, they remain firmly established in vast rural areas.
Somali President Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud declared a "total war" on them, and launched a military offensive in September, notably supported by American airstrikes.
But the Shebab continue to carry out bloody attacks in retaliation, underlining their ability to strike at the heart of Somali cities and military installations.
On May 26, they attacked a base held by Ugandan soldiers of the African Union Force in Somalia (Atmis) in the south of the country, killing at least 54 soldiers.
On October 29, 2022, two car bombs exploded in Mogadishu, killing 121 people and injuring 333, the deadliest attack in five years in this country also affected by a historic drought.
A triple bombing in central Beledweyne also left 30 people dead, including local officials, in early October and at least 21 hotel guests in Mogadishu were killed in a 30-hour siege in August.
The siege had raised questions about how Islamist militants managed to reach the closely guarded heart of Mogadishu's administrative district undetected.
In a report to the UN Security Council in February, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said 2022 had been the deadliest year for civilians in Somalia since 2017, largely due to Al-Shabaab attacks.
06/09/2023 23:45:09 - Mogadishu (AFP) - © 2023 AFP
