3 soldiers killed, 27 people wounded in hotel attack in Somali capital

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US service member wounded in Somalia attack

A car bomb in a small Somalian town went off before troops were targeted by mortar fire.

• Three soldiers were killed and 27 people wounded in an attack on a hotel in Somalia’s capital on Thursday.
• The Syl Hotel, often frequented by government officials, was surrounded by security services after the attack claimed by al Qaeda-allied militants.
• All five terrorists involved in the attack were fatally shot, police say.

Three soldiers were killed and 27 people wounded in an attack on a hotel in Somalia’s capital, police said on Friday, the latest incident highlighting al Shabaab insurgents’ ability to strike.

Security services were earlier seen surrounding the Syl Hotel, usually frequented by government officials and lawmakers, following the late Thursday attack claimed by the al Qaeda-allied militants.

“Three soldiers died. Eighteen civilians and nine soldiers were injured in the hotel attack, Kasim Ahmed Roble, police spokesperson, told a news conference. “All the five terrorists were shot dead and their bodies displayed.”

LOUD EXPLOSION IS HEARD AS SOMALI MILITANT GROUP SAYS ITS FIGHTERS HAVE ATTACKED A HOTEL IN CAPITAL

Al Shabaab has been waging a brutal insurgency against Somalia’s federal government since 2006 to try to establish its own rule based on its interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

Vehicles of Somali security officers are parked near Syl Hotel, the scene of an al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab group’s attack, in Mogadishu, Somalia March 15, 2024. (REUTERS/Feisal Omar)

In Thursday’s attack, residents heard a blast followed by gunfire as the attackers entered the hotel, they told Reuters.

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A second blast followed several minutes later, a Reuters journalist and a resident said.

Despite being pushed out of several territories by government-backed forces since the mid-2010s, the militant group still controls vast areas in southern and central Somalia and launches sporadic attacks on civilian and military targets.

In June, al Shabaab militants killed nine people at the Pearl restaurant in the capital. In 2019, its fighters attacked Syl Hotel.