MOGADISHU — The death toll from a
devastating 30-hour siege by Al-Shabaab terrorists at a hotel in
Somalia’s
capital Mogadishu has climbed to 21, Health Minister Ali Haji Adan said Sunday,
as anxious citizens awaited news of missing relatives.
اضافة اعلان
Emergency workers have been trying to clear the
debris of a gun and bomb attack by the Al-Qaeda-linked group on the popular
Hayat hotel which left parts of the building in ruins, with many feared trapped
inside.
“The ministry of health has so far confirmed the
deaths of 21 people and 117 people wounded” in the assault that began on Friday
evening and lasted over a day, Adan said.
On Sunday morning, the area surrounding the hotel
was under tight security, with the roads blocked as emergency workers and bomb
disposal experts sought to clear any explosives and remove rubble.
The hotel sustained heavy damage during the gunfight
between Somali forces and the insurgents.
Parts of the building collapsed, leaving many people
frantically searching for their loved ones who were inside when the attack
began.
Police commissioner Abdi Hassan Mohamed Hijar told
reporters on Sunday that “106 people including children and women” were rescued
during the siege which ended around midnight.
As bullets and flames ripped through the hotel,
security forces searched the property to bring civilians to safety, including
three young children who hid inside a toilet.
“The casualties mostly happened in the early hours
of the attack, after that security forces spent time rescuing people
individually and room by room,” Hijar said.
The attack was the biggest in Mogadishu since
Somalia’s new President
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in June, and
underscored the challenge of trying to crush the 15-year insurrection by the
Islamist group.
Dozens of people gathered near the road leading up
to the hotel on Sunday morning, desperate for news of their family members.
The hotel was a favored meeting spot for government
officials and scores of people were inside when gunmen stormed the property.
‘Audacious attack’
Samira Gaid, executive
director of the
Hiraal Institute, a Mogadishu-based security think tank, told
AFP that the “audacious attack” was a message to the new government and its
foreign allies.
“The complex attack is to show that they are still
very much present, very relevant, and that they can penetrate government
security and conduct such attacks,” she said.
Mohamud said last month that ending the radical
Islamist militant insurrection required more than a military approach, but that
his government would negotiate with the group only when the time was right.
According to Gaid, the president later told
officials that the government’s “first objective is to fight the group
militarily and weaken then before they can go into any negotiations”.
“This attack will trigger a faster strategy and
response especially when it comes to engaging the group,” she said.
According to police, the attack began with a blast
caused by a suicide bomber who forced his way into the hotel along with gunmen.
Minutes later, a second explosion struck as
rescuers, security forces, and civilians rushed to help the injured, witnesses
said.
Al-Shabaab, which claimed responsibility for the
hotel siege, has carried out several attacks in Somalia since Mohamud took
office, and last month launched strikes on the Ethiopian border.
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