NAIROBI, Kenya – Militants stormed a large hotel in the Somali capital on Sunday night, authorities said they had raised fears of escalating violence in the Horn of Africa nation because of a bitterly contested election season and the withdrawal of U.S. troops.
The attack in Mogadishu, attributed to the Shabab, an extremist group, took place in the Afrik Hotel, which is on its way to the city’s largest international airport and is a popular meeting place for politicians, legislators and members of the security services.
Images and video shared on social media smoke blown into the blue sky. Heavy gunfire and explosions were heard according to Ismael Mukhtar Omar, spokesperson for the Ministry of Information, in the vicinity of the hotel.
Authorities said the Shabab, which is Al Qaeda’s most powerful ally in Africa and had wreaked havoc in East Africa, carried out the attack, which began around 5pm. Security forces continued to occupy the hotel on Sunday night. Somali police spokesman Sadiq Adan Ali said in a statement that most of the people who were inside the hotel had been evacuated. He also confirmed the deaths of nine people, including five civilians and four militants, as well as dozens of injuries.
Abdulkadir Adan, the founder of Aamin Ambulance, Mogadishu’s only free ambulance service, said in a text message that his team had removed the bodies of two people killed in the attack and another 11 injured from the scene of took the violence.
Mohamed Nur Galal, a former military general, was killed In the attack, Mr. Omar confirmed in a post on Twitter. Among those saved were senior federal and regional government officials along with security officials, he added.
The attack came a few weeks before a major parliamentary and presidential election plagued by disputes over how to conduct the vote properly, creating an impasse that could delay the postponement of the vote and push the government beyond its constitutional constraint. .
The differences of opinion between the federal and regional governments and opposition parties frightened the United Nations, the United States, the European Union and African states, which called on the various parties to resolve the remaining issues regarding the implementation of elections in order to credible and inclusive elections to proceed. ”
The election was scheduled for February 8, but the timeline now seems unattainable. President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed het appealed local leaders are meeting from Monday to address the election crisis.
Tensions over the election erupted last week after heavy fighting broke out between Somali forces and those from the southern region of Jubaland. Somali officials blame the violence of groups backed by neighboring Kenya, and allegations denied by officials in Nairobi. Somalia has severed diplomatic relations with Kenya after accusing it of interfering in its internal affairs.
Somalia is facing a number of other crises, including the coronavirus pandemic, swarms of desert locusts destroying crops and the displacement of tens of thousands of people by seasonal floods late last year.
The Shabab militant group continues to be a threat, targeting civilians, government officials and peacekeepers, in addition to carrying out attacks on restaurants, hotels and other institutions.
The Qaida group also has financial muscle as it advances millions of dollars in tariffs and disbursements to fund its operations, according to a report by the United Nations Security Council last year. The group has shifted this money through Somalia’s banking system and invested in local businesses and real estate.
Former President Trump announced a sudden withdrawal of 700 US troops from the country in the waning days of his tenure, prompting observers to worry that the withdrawal would encourage the Shabab and pressure them to carry out more attacks against the weak but internationally backed government.
Hussein Mohamed reported from Mogadishu, Somalia.