Somalia: Security forces end hotel siege claimed by Al-Shabaab

Security forces in Somalia brought to an end the siege of a hotel in Mogadishu after the Islamist Al-Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Affiliated with Al-Qaeda, the rebels have been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government for more than 15 years and have often targeted hotels, which tend to host high-ranking Somali and foreign officials.

The security forces “shot and killed” rebels who carried out “the desperate terrorist attack on the Pearl Beach… in Mogadishu,” SNTV reported on Saturday.

It added that security forces had rescued “many civilians from inside the hotel” and “shot and killed” those responsible.

Security and intelligence sources confirmed the end of the attack to AFP on condition of anonymity.

Witnesses reported hearing gunfire and explosions at the hotel on Lido beach. “I was near the Pearl Beach restaurant when (a) heavy explosion occurred in front of the building,” witness Abdirahim Ali told AFP.

“I have managed to flee but there was heavy gunfire afterwards and the security forces rushed to the area.”

Yaasin Nur was at the restaurant and told AFP it was “full of people as it was recently renovated”.

“I’m worried because there are several of my colleagues who went there and two of them are not responding to their phones,” he said.

(With inputs from AFP)

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