| The initial attack can be seen here. |
The attackers blasted their way into the Hayat Hotel on Friday evening with two boom-mobiles before opening fire. Somalia’s Al-Shabaab
...... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...turbans grabbed credit.
"So far we have confirmed 12 people, mostly civilians, died," Mohammed, an intelligence officer who only gave one name, told Rooters.
The button men were holding an unknown number of hostages on the second floor of the building, Mohammed said, preventing authorities from using heavy weapons.
They had also bombed out the stairs to make it harder to access certain floors, he said.
As the siege entered its second day on Saturday evening, authorities had secured 95 per cent of the building, the state broadcaster Somali National Television said. The broadcaster did not give an updated number of casualties.
Those battling the holy warriors inside the hotel include Gaashan, a paramilitary force specialising in counter-insurgency, a bigwig told Rooters.
The detonations sent huge plumes of smoke over the busy junction on Friday night, and the sound of gunfire still crackled across the capital on Saturday evening.
Explosions were heard on Friday night as government forces tried to wrest control of the hotel back from the krazed killers, witnesses said.
Large sections of the hotel were destroyed by the fighting, they said.
Friday’s attack was the first such major incident since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in May.
The Al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab group grabbed credit for the attack, according to a translation by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadist group statements.
| Courtesy of badanov: |
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
[REGNUM] The meeting of the Somali Parliament was canceled due to the attack of militants of the radical group "Al-Shabaab" (an organization whose activities are banned in the Russian Federation) on the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu. This was reported on August 20 by Garowe Online.
A meeting of the Somali parliament was canceled after al-Shabaab militants attacked the Hayat hotel in Mogadishu on Friday evening after heavy explosions.
The attack has already killed 16 people. The Somali Guardian notes that the hotel is still home to a number of prominent politicians, including members of parliament.
Death toll rises to 30 from ongoing hotel attack in Somalia's capital
[Garowe] The federal government of Somalia has deployed elite Haramacad paramilitary officers to the Hayat Hotel which is still under Al-Shabaab siege, just over 20 hours after the militants waged a deadly attack targeting the facility which is located near the K-4 junction.
For over 20 hours, security forces mainly drawn from the police and the Intelligence Agency [NISA] have been exchanging gunfire with the militants, who rammed into the hotel and occupied the fourth floor, making it difficult for the forces to effectively counter them.
On Saturday afternoon, the government confirmed the deployment of Turkish-trained Haramacad police officers who will now pursue the remaining militants. The paramilitary forces are only deployed during special complicated assignments upon request by the security teams.
The Alpha group, which has been on the site since Friday, failed to comb the area, leading to the change of tactics by calling the special forces. Sources say one of the militants is still holed up in the hotel, making it difficult for security forces to retake the hotel.
Al-Shabaab, which controls huge swathes of rural central and southern Somalia, confirmed that its infantry team attacked the hotel but did immediately reveal who the target was. It was the first major attack under the administration of Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.
State media reported that the death toll has risen to 30 after 15 more bodies were discovered in the rubbles. Initially, the death toll was 15 after security forces managed to remove the bodies for preservation ahead of identification by their families.
Islamic militants storm hotel in Somalia’s capital, leave 20 deadhttps://t.co/0APPEWXo4e
— SHAFAQ News (@Shafaqnews) August 20, 2022
Islamic militants have stormed a hotel in Somalia's capital, engaging in an hours-long exchange of fire with the security forces that left at least 20 people dead, according to police and witnesses.
In addition, at least 40 people were wounded in the late Friday night attack and security forces rescued many others, including children, from the scene at Mogadishu's popular Hayat Hotel, they said Saturday.
Somali forces were still trying to end the siege of the hotel almost 24 hours after the attack started. Gunfire could still be heard Saturday evening as security forces tried to contain the last gunmen thought to be holed up on the hotel's top floor.
The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, which has ties with al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest of its frequent attempts to strike places visited by government officials. The attack on the hotel is the first major terror incident in Mogadishu since Somalia's new leader, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, took over in May.
There was no immediate word on the identities of the victims, but many are believed to be civilians.
Mohamed Abdirahman, director of Mogadishu's Madina Hospital, told the AP that 40 people were admitted there with wounds or injuries from the attack. While nine were sent home after getting treatment, five are in critical condition in the ICU, he said.
#UPDATE About 30 hours after Al-Shabaab jihadists stormed a hotel in Somalia's capital, the deadly siege is over.
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) August 20, 2022
"The gunmen are dead," a Somali security commander said Saturday around midnight, adding that a press briefing would be held Sunday morning. pic.twitter.com/WsH2h9lyxD