Hiiraan Online
Sunday November 1, 2015
MOGADISHU (HOL) - After four hours of fighting at hotel in the Somali capital, Somali special forces say they have killed the last of heavily-armed Alshabaab militants who attacked Sahafi Hotel, ending hours of siege which trapped the hotel guests.
15 people including the owner of the hotel Abdirashid Ilqeyte, the former Somali military chief Abdikarim Dhagabadan, a lawmaker Abdi Mohamed Abtidon, freelance photographer, Mustaf Abdi and attackers were killed
According to the police, four militants armed with rocket-propelled grenades, suicide bomb vests and machine guns attacked the hotel before the dawnbreak after a suicide car bomber detonated his explosives-laden vehicle at gate of the hotel.
General Dhagabadan, businessman Abdirshid Ilqayte and Somali MP Abdi Mohamed Abtidoon were killed today's attack
The attack which was quickly claimed by the Al-Shabab group, again showed the ability of militants to stage high-profile raids even as their fighters were ousted from its largest strongholds.
Television pictures showed medical workers carrying bloodied dead bodies while survivors clambered over a wall to safety.
Despite being ousted from large swathes in south and central Somalia, Al-Shabab continues to carry out well-planned assaults in the past few years, raising questions about whether the militant group shifted tactics to embrace high-profile attacks targeting landmarks, as parts of the group's new guerrilla attacks.