Somalia: Senior officials killed in Mogadishu hotel siege

MOGADISHU, Somalia, November 1, 2015 (Garowe Online)-Heavily armed Al Shabaab militants have taken hostages at Mogadishu’s Sahafi hotel shortly after multiple car bomb attacks according to witnesses and officials, Garowe Online reports.

The militants launched the deadly assault in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Volleys of gunfire and plumes of black smoke could either be heard or seen over the hotel popular with Somali government officials and foreigners.

Over a dozen people including lawmaker, security commanders, media workers and key figures have been confirmed dead in the ongoing siege.

Shots are being fired sporadically in the vicinity of the hotel as security forces are trying to free those being holed up.

Lawmaker Abtidon Kofi is among dead while former Somali Ambassador to Ethiopia, Ahmed Abdisalan Haji Adan sustained wounds.

Al Shabaab previously staged similar sieges in volatile Mogadishu.

Somali government forces aided by African Union peacekeepers have dislodged militants from a string of strategic towns in central and southern Somalia.

GAROWE ONLINE