Several killed, taken hostage in Shabaab attack on Mogadishu hotel

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© Mohamed Abdiwahab, AFP | Fire is seen at the scene of a car bomb attack claimed by al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab militants at the Naasa Hablood hotel in Mogadishu on June 25, 2016.

Latest update : 2016-06-26

by Natalie Duval and Biodun Iginla, France24, Djibouti

At least 11 people were killed Saturday in an attack on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu that was swiftly claimed by Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab militants.

The assault, the latest in a series by the Islamist group targeting hotels and restaurants, began when a suicide bomber detonated a car laden with explosives outside the building.

Gunmen then stormed the Naasa Hablood hotel and gunfire rang out for several hours, witnesses said, before the authorities declared the attack over.

"The special security forces have ended the siege after killing three attackers inside the hotel. Eleven civilians, two of them doctors, were killed in the attack," Abdi Kamil Shukri, a security ministry spokesman, told reporters.

Medical sources said some 20 civilians were wounded.

The attack was launched at 4:30 pm (1330 GMT) with a powerful blast followed by two other explosions and then heavy gunfire, AFP journalists and a witness said.

The Naasa Hablood hotel in southern Mogadishu is often used by politicians and members of theSomali diaspora visiting the city.

Somali security forces moved quickly to cordon off access to the neighbourhood as they raced to retake the hotel, an AFP photographer said.

A witness, Adan Ibrahim, said an unknown number of people were able to flee the hotel using a back door. Pictures from the scene showed people in blood-covered clothes running down the street.

The Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack through a statement on the Telegram smartphone app, saying that their fighters had forced their way into 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 casualties were inflicted in the enemy's ranks," the Shabaab said.

Spike in violence

Saturday's assault came just three weeks after another attack quickly claimed the Shabaab group on the city's Ambassador hotel left 10 dead including two lawmakers when a huge car bomb ripped the front off the six-storey building.

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.

Shabaab insurgents have also staged repeated attacks in neighbouring 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).

Several killed, taken hostage in Shabaab attack on Mogadishu hotel

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© Mohamed Abdiwahab, AFP | Fire is seen at the scene of a car bomb attack claimed by al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabaab militants at the Naasa Hablood hotel in Mogadishu on June 25, 2016

Latest update : 2016-06-25

by Natalie Duval and Biodun Iginla, France24, Djibouti

Gunmen stormed a hotel in Somalia's capital Saturday, taking guests hostage and "shooting at everyone they could see," before security forces pursued the assailants to the top floor and ended the hours-long assault, police said.

At least 14 people were killed.

Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the latest in a series of hotel attacks in Mogadishu, one that began with a powerful explosion at the entry gate.

"We have finally ended the siege. The last remaining militants were killed on the top floor," police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said after security forces pursued the gunmen who had retreated to upper floors of the Nasa-Hablod hotel, setting up sniper posts on the roof. Police said at least four gunmen were involved in the attack.

"We have so far confirmed the deaths of 14 people. Some of them died in the hospitals," Hussein said. The deaths included women who were selling khat, a stimulant leaf popular with Somali men, outside the hotel, he said.

Hussein said security forces killed two of the attackers. Police and medical workers said another nine people were wounded in the assault.

Security forces rescued most of the hostages; it was not clear whether any were killed.

Police said the attack began when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the hotel entrance, ripping off its gate. Gunmen fought their way inside, and a witness said they began shooting randomly at hotel guests.

Blood was splattered on the hotel floor. The bodies of two men, including one thought to be a hotel guard and an attacker dressed in a military uniform, lay on the first floor.

Bullets pockmarked the hotel walls. Security forces combed through the dark hotel rooms, searching for explosives.

A witness, Ali Mohamud, said the attackers randomly shot at guests. "They were shooting at everyone they could see. I escaped through the back door," he said.

Yusuf Ali, an ambulance driver, told The Associated Press he evacuated 11 people injured in the attack to hospitals.

"Most of them were wounded in crossfire," he said.

The Somalia-based, al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab has been waging a deadly insurgency across large parts of Somalia and often employs suicide car bomb attacks to penetrate heavily fortified targets in Mogadishu and elsewhere.

In early June, an overnight siege by extremist gunmen at another hotel in the capital killed least 15 people, including two members of parliament. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for that attack.

The latest attack comes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, during which extremists often step up attacks in this volatile East African country.

"They came shouting 'Allahu Akbar' and fired bullets on every side," said a hotel staffer who escaped through the back door. He declined to be identified for fear of reprisal.

"They are devils who merely care for death and blood," the staffer said.

The assaults in the capital have highlighted the challenges facing the Somali government and African Union forces that are struggling to secure the country. An attack on another Mogadishu hotel and public garden in February killed at least nine civilians. A car bomb outside a restaurant in the capital in April killed at least five.

The African Union force faces shrinking resources after the European Union recently cut its funding to the AU mission in Somalia by 20 percent. Citing that cut, Uganda's military chief said Friday his country plans to withdraw its more than 6,000 troops from the AU force in Somalia by December 2017.