Al-Shabab gunmen storm a hotel in the Somali capital

Abdullahi Hassan, a Somali police officer in the city confirmed to KON that the militants breached the gate with a car bomb to enter the Afrik hotel located along with the city’s Aden Abdulle International airport.

News Keydmedia Online
31 January 2021

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Al-Shabaab gunmen stormed an upscale hotel in Mogadishu, the Somali capital on Sunday afternoon at around 5 pm local time, police and witnesses said.

Abdullahi Hassan, a Somali police officer in the city confirmed to KON that the militants breached the gate with a car bomb to enter the Afrik hotel located along with the city’s Aden Abdulle International airport.

The exposition was followed by heavy gunfire heard as the attackers dressed in Somali army uniform took the people inside as hostages.   

Somali security forces cordoned off the area and a cloud of smoke went up above the site of the blast which the police run a checkpoint to search cars heading to the airport and the main UN offices.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack on the hotel, saying it has targeted government officials in the building without providing further details of the number of attackers involved in the assault.

Former army general and current military officials are among dozens of people rescued from the hotel attack which is feared to cause high casualties.

The exact number of fatalities remains sketchy as the operation to end the siege still underway and journalists denied access to the site for security reasons.

There has been a terrorist threat warning and people in the capital have been advised to stay away from hotels and other buildings frequented by government officials prior to the attack.

Despite losing big cities, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated armed Al-Shabaab group controls vast parts of rural Somalia and regularly stages attacks in Mogadishu and elsewhere in the country. 

This is a developing story: We'll give updates on the situation as we learn more.

KON English News Desk