TEN DEAD INCLUDING RETIRED GENERAL AFTER MILITANTS STORM HOTEL IN SOMALI CAPITAL

Mon 01 February 2021:

Somali security forces ended an eight-hour-long siege on a hotel early on Monday following an attack by al-Shabaab militants in the capital Mogadishu.

Ten people died in a weekend attack at a hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, and security forces ended the assault by al-Qaeda-linked al Shabaab fighters early on Monday, a police spokesman said.

A suicide car bomb exploded early on Sunday evening and was followed by a shootout between al-Shabaab militants and security forces at the Hotel Afrik. The fighting lasted into early Monday.

“The operation is over now, ten people including four attackers died and over 10 civilians were injured. There is no electricity,” Sadik Ali, told reporters from the scene and via Facebook.

“The blast made the hotel tremble as we sat inside and were talking. We were panicked, confused,” witness Ahmed Nur said, adding that he escaped via a ladder down a wall. “I jumped down and ran.”

Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble said in a statement that among those killed was a retired military general and former defence minister, Mohamed Nur Galal.

Local media reported that four soldiers from a special unit were also killed during the clashes inside the hotel.

Retired army general and former defense minister Mohamed Nuur Galal is among those killed in the attack, according to Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble.

“My heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of the heinous terror attack in Hotel Afrik, including Gen Mohamed Nur Galal, who served his country with valor for over 50 years. This attack is yet another reminder of the savage enemy we face. We must unite against terror,” Roble said in a short statement posted on Twitter.

Somali Military forces, General Mohamed Nor Galal.

Police in the Horn of Africa nation also said that during the operation, dozens of people including government officials and civilians had been rescued from the violence.

US forces that had been based in Somalia began their withdrawal from the country in December and were redirected to other bases in East Africa.

Former US President Donald Trump ordered the majority of US troops to leave Somalia “by early 2021,” in just one of the major military policy decisions taken in the final days of his administration.

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