Mogadishu (Somalia): Gunmen stormed a hotel in the center of the Somali port city of Kismayo on Sunday, shortly after an explosives-packed car exploded at the hotel’s gates, police said.
Officials said gunmen were still inside the Tawakal Hotel and security forces were on the scene. The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack began when a car driven by a suicide bomber rammed the entrance gate of the hotel and then exploded, police officer Abshir Omar told The Associated Press by phone. A number of small businesses along the street were destroyed.
Some government officials and traditional elders were eating lunch in the hotel at the time of the explosion, he said.
There was no immediate word on casualties.
Mohamed Nasi Guled, a senior police official in Jubaland State, said three attackers entered the hotel’s premises. He vowed security forces would end the attack.
The hotel is popular as a meeting place for government officials. Kismayo is located about 500 kilometers from the Somali capital, Mogadishu. Al-Shabab is believed to have a strong presence in the areas surrounding Kismayo, the largest city and commercial capital of Jubaland State.
Al-Shabab, which has ties with al-Qaida, regularly carries out attacks in the Horn of Africa nation. It is actively involved in the ongoing Somali Civil War. Even though its membership incorporates Somali nationalist elements, al-Shabaab's central aims are Salafi jihadist.
Allegiant to the militant pan-Islamist organization al-Qaeda since 2012, it has also been suspected of forging ties with Boko Haram, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, and al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula.
It is responsible for many high-fatality attacks, including the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya, the October 2017 Mogadishu bombings, and the December 2019 Mogadishu bombing.
In addition to being active in Somalia, it is also active in other East African countries, especially in Kenya, and occasionally, it is also active in Ethiopia. Attendant to its recent resurgence, it was estimated to have increased its combat strength to between 7,000 and 12,000 fighters in February 2022.
On August 19 this year, al-Shabaab gunmen attacked the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia. Initially, two car bombs exploded. Gunmen then stormed the hotel, shooting people and taking hostages. At least 21 people were killed, and 117 others were wounded, fifteen of whom were in critical condition.
(with inputs from AP)
