At least four people were killed during the attack, according to a Somali Security Services who have been trying to release the hotel since Sunday.
Mo12345lemonde with AFP and Reuters
sporadic shots and explosions continued to sound in the morning Monday, November 28, around Villa Rose hotel, in the center of Mogadishu, occupied since Sunday evening by the Chabab, jihadist militiamen, and besieged by Somali security forces. All the roads leading to the district were blocked, noted the correspondents of the France-Presse agency (AFP).
At least four people were killed during the hotel attack, AFP announced a Somali security services manager. “The terrorists are stuck in a room in the building and the security forces are about to quickly put an end to the operation,” said Mohamed Dahir, without specifying who were the four victims. “Several people have been injured, including government officials,” added the security forces manager. 2> an attack on Sunday evening 2>
Witnesses had described two strong explosions on Sunday evening, marking the start of the chabab attack of this hotel very frequented by senior officials and parliamentarians and located a few pâtés from the office of the president, Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud , in the Bondherere district. In principle, the establishment enjoyed serious security measures. On its website , the pink villa is described as “l ‘The safest accommodation in Mogadishu “, with metal detectors and a high surrounding wall.
As early as Sunday evening, many civilians and political leaders had been rescued and evacuated from the area. “A group of fighters Chabab attacked a hotel in the Bondherere district this evening [and] the security forces are committed to eliminate them,” the national police spokesman Sadik Dudishe said on Sunday. The strength of the African Union in Somalia (atmis) a condemned window The attack and “congratulated” on Twitter “Somali security forces for their rapid response to avoid new victims and material damage”. For its part, the Somali Parliament, located near the hotel, postponed the sessions scheduled on Monday in its two rooms. 2> a “total war” against the Chabab
This new attack occurs while the Somali President, elected in May, has decided to hire for three months a “total war” against the Chabab, a group affiliated with Al-Qaida, which tries to overthrow the central Somali government for fifteen years. The Somali army, supported by local clans, by the atmis, and with the support of American air strikes, thus resumed them control of the province of Hiiraan and vast areas of the Shabeellaha Dhexe (also called the Middle Shabelle), in the center of the country.
But the insurgents retaliated by a series of bloody attacks, recalling their ability to strike at the heart of Somali cities and military facilities. On October 29, two cars exploded a few minutes apart in Mogadiscio, killing 121 people and injuring 333 others. Or the deadliest attack for five years in this fragile country of the Horn of Africa. A triple bomb attack at Belet Uen had also killed 30 people, including local officials, at the beginning of October, and at least 21 customers of a Hôtel de Mogadishu were killed during a thirty -hour headquarters in August in August .
According to the United Nations, at least 613 civilians have already been killed and 948 injured in violence this year in Somalia, mainly caused by artisanal explosive devices (EEI) allocated to the Chabab. The highest figures since 2017, up more than 30 % compared to 2021.