Somalia: Continued siege following car explosion at Mogadishu hotel gate

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A car bomb exploded at the gate of the Afrik Hotel and was followed by gunfire heard inside, Somali police captain Ahmed Hassan told CNN. The incident took place around 5pm local time (9am ET), Hassan added.

Al-Qaeda’s gunman, Al-Shabaab, gained access to the building after a car bomb exploded at the gate, he said.

There is an ongoing operation to rescue people inside the hotel, according to police. It is unclear at this time whether there are any casualties.

The reason for the attack is also unclear, but Hassan said a top military commander was in the hotel at the time of the attack. Other senior military and parliamentary officials were also inside the hotel, Hassan said.

The hotel is frequented by deputies, politicians and security officials, but not by foreigners.

People flee when gunfire is heard on a street near the Afrik Hotel in Mogadishu

Outside the hotel is the main security checkpoint to the airport and Halane Base, which hosts Western missions, including the US Embassy.

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for his attack on a statement broadcast by Andalus Radio, his broadcaster. CNN could not independently verify this claim.

The Islamist insurgent group, according to the Foreign Relations Council, wants to turn Somalia into a fundamentalist Islamic state.
He claimed responsibility for a truck that bombed outside the city of Mogadishu in December, in which 85 people died, including two Turkish citizens.
Another terrorist attack on a hotel in Kismayo, in the Somali state of Jubaland, in July left more than 26 dead, including journalists and local government officials.
US forces are beginning to move from Somalia
The militant group also said it was behind a triple car bombing near a hotel in Mogadishu, in which at least 52 people were killed and 100 injured in November 2018.
U.S. forces based in Somalia began withdrawing from the country in December and were redirected to other bases in East Africa.

US troops in Somalia primarily train and advise local Somali forces during the fight with Al-Shabaab. The U.S. military is also conducting airstrikes against the country’s ISIS group and local affiliate, killing a top al-Shabaab leader in a targeted strike in September.

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

Omar Nor reported from Mogadishu and Radina Gigova wrote from Atlanta, Georgia.

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