Somalia: Federal Govt forces end Mogadishu hotel siege, 22 killed

MOGADISHU, Somalia, March 28, 2015 (Garowe Online)-At least 22 people were killed after Al Qaeda linked Al Shabaab gunmen stormed a hotel popular with Somalia government officials and foreigners on Friday afternoon, Garowe Online reports.

US-trained Special Forces broke the deadly standoff that left six attackers dead on Saturday morning according to officials.

The siege lasted more than 12 hours, showing a potent insurgency in Somalia which is struggling to contain guerilla warfare to which was reverted by beleaguered militants as a result of serious setbacks on the front-lines.

Al Shabaab gunmen took some of the Maka Al Mukaramah hotel lodgers hostage, beheading them in the apparently coordinated rampage.

The attack started with a suicide car bombing at the gate of the hotel followed by gunmen who forcibly walked past the security guards while shooting.

As has been the case, Al Shabaab group immediately claimed credit for the attack, saying they targeted 'apostates' in the hotel.

In the fledgling course of the terror attack, the gunmen shot Somali ambassador to UN Human Rights Council Yusuf Mohamed Ismael (Bari Bari) who succumbed to gunshot wounds to the upper part of his body at Madina hospital.

Somalia's US trained special forces Gaashaan have managed to kill all the attackers after hours of battle in the dark hotel.

Medics say the death toll may rise as hospitals reported having victims in critical condition in their wards.

Somalia's weak UN-backed central government condemned Al Shabaab for killing innocent people in the attack.

Shortly after the standoff in the hotel was put to an end, fugitive Al Shabaab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage boasted that they will continue targeting Somalia government officials.

Located at the heart of a key road that leads to the heavily-fortified presidential compound, Maka Al Mukarama hotel has been a target for the militants.

Somali government forces aided by African Union peacekeepers dislodged Al Shabaab fighters from Mogadishu in 2011.

Ever since, the militants have been carrying out military-style ambushes, suicide bombings and planned assassinations.  

GAROWE ONLINE