31 die in attack on Somali hotel
Mogadishu, Aug. 24: Somali politicians were among 31 people killed in an attack on a Mogadishu hotel Tuesday, as an insurgent offensive that has claimed at least 60 lives entered its second day.
Radical Islamist group al-Shabaab is battling to oust the weak Western-backed government, which is penned into small enclaves in Mogadishu protected by around 6,000 African Union peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi.
On Tuesday, three insurgents dressed as government security forces entered the Muna Hotel near the presidential palace and shot dead 31 people before detonating an explosive device, Somalia’s information ministry said in a statement.
Six lawmakers, five government soldiers and many hotel staff were among those killed in the attack, the ministry said.
Earlier, a police official said 10 lawmakers had been shot dead. The attack came one day after an al-Shabaab spokesman announced insurgent forces from across Somalia were launching a drive to sweep the AU out of Mogadishu.
Heavy fighting kicked off on Monday as insurgents attacked government and AU positions. Witnesses said the clashes were the fiercest in months as the two sides clashed with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and automatic weapons.
The casualties are increasing by minute and the battle is intensifying, Ali Muse, head of Mogadishu’s ambulance service, said prior to the attack on the hotel.
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