Highlight
Terrorists attack a hotel in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu
Security forces launched an operation to free the hotel from terrorists
The total number of people killed in this incident is being ascertained.
New Delhi. The frenzy of terror in Somalia is over. Security forces have killed al-Shahab militants at the Hyatt Hotel in the capital Mogadishu after a 30-hour long battle. Somali security forces said the operation at the hotel had been called off late Saturday. 13 civilians have been killed in this terrorist attack while more than a dozen people have been injured. According to Somali officials, on Friday evening, al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab militants stormed the capital’s popular Hyatt Hotel and launched a gun-and-bomb attack that killed 13 civilians and wounded dozens.
According to the news agency AFP, officials said that the gunmen were killed in the attack by security forces. There has been no firing since last one hour. Officials said that at present, the number of terrorists killed in the hotel and the number of security forces injured in the incident is being assessed. The number of civilian deaths may also increase. It will take some time to completely clear the Hotel Hyatt as bomb disposal squads have been called to remove explosives from every corner of the hotel.
It was the biggest terror attack in Mogadishu since Somalia’s new President Hassan Sheikh Mohamed took office in June. The government has been trying to quell the insurgency of the Islamic terrorist group al-Shahab for the past 15 years, but it is becoming more and more challenging. Hyatt Hotel is a very popular hotel in Mogadishu as it is visited by many government officials.
Security forces had to enter this hotel late on Saturday night to eliminate the terrorists. The hotel has also suffered a lot in this operation. Witnesses said the roof of the hotel was engulfed in flames. A huge quantity of explosives has also been reported here, which is being removed by the Bomb Disposal Squad. Officials say the children and dozens of others in the hotel have been rescued. However, how these people were in the last 30 hours, it is not yet known.
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tags: africa, Somalia, Terrorist
First Published: 21 August 2022, 06:52 IST
