Five dead in Mogadishu hotel attack claimed by Shabaab

Somalian security forces clear the upper floor of the Ambassador Hotel which was the scene of a terror attack in Mogadishu on June 2, 2016. On June 25, 2016 police said at least five people were killed in another attack on a hotel in Mogadishu. Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab militants claimed the attack. PHOTO | AFP

What you need to know:

  • The Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement distributed through online social networks.

  • The assault was led by a suicide attacker driving a car laden with explosives, the Shabaab said in a statement distributed through the Telegram smartphone app.

  • The attack began at 4:30 pm (1330 GMT) with a powerful blast followed by heavy gunfire, an AFP journalist and a witness said.

At least five people were killed in an attack on Saturday on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu that was swiftly claimed by Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab militants, police said.

"What we know is that there were at least five victims, including three security guards, and that six others were injured," police official Ibrahim Mohamed said.

The Shabaab group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement distributed through online social networks.

The assault was led by a suicide attacker driving a car laden with explosives, the Shabaab said in a statement distributed through the Telegram smartphone app.

The attack began at 4:30 pm (1330 GMT) with a powerful blast followed by heavy gunfire, an AFP journalist and a witness said.

At 7:00 pm, as night fell in Somalia, sporadic gunfire could still be heard, witnesses said.

The Shabaab swiftly claimed responsibility for the attack, saying in a statement on the Telegram smartphone app that the jihadist gunmen had "managed to fully take control of the hotel".

"The attack started with a heavy blast carried out by a brother who drove a car loaded with explosives. Gunmen fought their way into the hotel, and we believe that casulaties were inflicted in the enemy's ranks," the Shabaab said.

SPIKE IN VIOLENCE

The Shabaab lost their foothold in the capital in 2011 but continue their battle to overthrow the Somali government and launch regular attacks on military, government and civilian targets like hotels and restaurants in Mogadishu and elsewhere.

In November last year, the Islamists carried out a similar attack on the Sahafi hotel in central Mogadishu, leaving at least 12 dead.

Across the border in Kenya, five policemen were killed on Monday when suspected Shabaab fighters attacked their convoy.

Shabaab insurgents have staged repeated attacks in Kenya, including the killing of at least 67 people at Nairobi's Westgate Mall in 2013 and the massacre of 148 people at a university in Garissa in April 2015.

The Shabaab earlier this month confirmed the death in a special forces raid of a commander named Mohamed Mohamud aka Dulyadin, who was suspected of organising the Garissa University attack.

In recent months they have also claimed attacks on bases of the African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia (AMISOM).

The authorities in Nairobi have vowed to send back 350,000 Somali refugees living in Dadaab camp in northeast Kenya.

The UN refugee agency however has called on Kenya to ensure the repatriation is carried out "in a humane, dignified manner, in line with international principles".

The vast majority of residents of the sprawling Dadaab complex of camps close to the Kenya-Somalia border fled Somalia's more than two-decades long conflict. Many remain fearful of returning to a country where insecurity remains rife and poverty is widespread.