Somalia hotel terror attack: Ten dead as 'Al-Shabaab gunmen' storm Mogadishu venue popular with Westerners
1 June 2016 - RPS Partnership
Just as everyone was starting to think it was "quiet in Mogadishu". We frequently get asked whether it is dangerous right now. Our answer is always the same. Just because there have not been any attacks recently does not mean it is not imminent. Wrong place and wrong time. Today was the wrong time. Contact us on i[email protected] for more information on this incident and travel to Africa.
RPS Partnership brings you an edited account of what happened.
A suicide car bomber crashed his vehicle into a gate outside the Hotel Ambassador in Mogadishu this evening, before shots were heard at the building
At least 10 people have been killed after suspected terrorists set off a car bomb and stormed a hotel in the Somali capital, officials say. A suicide car bomber crashed his vehicle into a gate outside the Hotel Ambassador - frequented by lawmakers and popular with Westerners - in Mogadishu this evening. Witnesses then heard gunfire, with a cloud of smoke seen rising from the area.
Al Qaeda-affiliated al Shabaab militants quickly claimed responsibility for the attack.
"A suicide car bomber has targeted the Hotel Ambassador along Maka Al Mukaram Road, Colonel Ali Mohamed, a Mogadishu police officer, told Reuters. "He rammed into the gate. It is too early to know casualties."
A huge plume of smoke could be seen rising from the Ambassador Hotel. Maka Al Mukaram is a major street that links another major artery, K4, to the presidential palace, and it is lined with hotels, restaurants and banks in the heart of the capital.
In other incidents, Somali security forces killed 17 al Shabaab fighters including the head of their intelligence unit and a man suspected to have orchestrated a deadly attack on a Kenyan university in 2015, government officials said.
This latest attack comes after a string of shocking terror violence carried out by al-Shabaab in recent months.
The Islamist group claimed responsibility for the Daallo Airlines blast which blew an alleged suicide bomber out of a hole in the side of a plane. It comes after reports the Somalia plane bomber may have had some type of link to the airline or airport staff.
Contact us for travel to Somalia, Somaliland and Puntland and other countries in Africa. Our training courses will prepare you to deal with anything that Africa may throw at you. Contact us on [email protected]
Photo: with thanks to Radio Dalson and to the Mirror for the full story.