Shabab twin hotel attacks kill 10 in Somalia

At least 10 people have lost their lives in attacks by the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab militant group on two hotels in Somalia, police officials say.

Police spokesman Mohamed Hussein said the militants stormed the Siyad and Weheliye hotels in the Somali capital city of Mogadishu on Friday evening, when residents were starting to break their Ramadan fast.

Somalia’s special forces intervened shortly after the raids and engaged in a firefight with the militants, Hussein added, noting that both hotel residents and the gunmen were among the assaults’ fatalities.

He further stated that the attack on the Weheliye hotel ended soon while the Siyad hotel raid lasted more than one hour.

Meanwhile, Hassan Ali, a police commander in Mogadishu, said that Friday’s assaults started with car bombings.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attacks, with its spokesman for military operations, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, saying that their elements broke into the hotels following car bombings.

Somalia has witnessed deadly clashes between government forces and the al-Shabab elements since 2006.

The militants have been pushed out of Mogadishu and other major cities in the African country by government troops and the African Union Mission to Somalia, which is largely made up of troops from Uganda, Ethiopia, Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya and Sierra Leone.

However, the al-Shabab militants, who have been trying to overthrow the government in Somalia, have continued to wage attacks in Mogadishu despite being driven out from their bases in the seaside city in 2011.

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