At least 7 killed in bomb, gun attack on Somalia hotel

A backhoe loader clean the street outside the Maka Al-Mukarama hotel in the Somalia capital, Mogadishu on March 1, 2019 after a car bomb exploded, killing at least five people and wounding 25 others. A bomb and gun attack claimed by Al-Shabaab militants on a hotel in Somalia's port city of Kismayo left several people dead on July 12, 2019. PHOTO | ABDIRAZAK HUSSEIN FARAH | AFP

What you need to know:

  • Witnesses said among those killed was a well-known social media activist, her husband and a local journalist.

  • Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.

Mogadishu,  

At least seven people were killed on Friday in a suicide bomb and gun attack on a hotel in southern Somalia, a security official said.

"We have confirmed the death of seven people including a former local administration minister and a lawmaker," said Abdi Dhuhul, a security official. "The toll may increase since the attack is not over yet."
Authorities said a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the popular Medina hotel in the southern town of Kismayo before several heavily armed gunmen forced their way inside, shooting as they went. A bomb and gun attack claimed by Al-Shabaab militants on the hotel.

"Several people died and many more are injured but we don't have the exact number of the fatalities so far because there is still a rescue operation going on," said security official Abdiweli Mohamed.

A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the popular hotel in the southern town before several heavily armed gunmen forced their way inside, shooting as they went, he said.

MEDINA HOTEL

"The blast rocked the popular Medina hotel formerly known as Cascasey which is located in downtown Kismayo," said Mohamed.

"Several gunmen entered and started shooting but the security forces responded quickly and engaged in a gunfight with the terrorists inside the building," he added.

Witnesses said among those killed was a well-known social media activist, her husband and a local journalist.

"The blast was very big," said witness Hussein Muktar.

"There is chaos inside, I saw several dead bodies carried from the scene and people are fleeing from the nearby buildings," added Muktar.

"The relatives of a local journalist Mohamed Sahal confirmed his death and I'm getting that social media activist Hodan Naleye and her husband also died in the blast," another witness, Ahmed Farhan, said.

AL-SHABAAB

Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement.

"Mujahidin fighters carried out a martyrdom attack on one of the hotels accommodating the apostate officials of the Jubaland administration," an autonomous southern zone in the troubled country whose main city is Kismayo, the group said.

According to several sources, most of those staying in the hotel were politicians and traders ahead of upcoming regional elections.