At least six dead in bomb blast at Somalia hotel
Truck laden with explosives drives into multi-story building; BBC reporter: It’s the worst case of destruction I’ve seen
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
At least six people were killed Sunday when a suspected car bomb exploded at a heavily guarded hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu housing diplomatic missions and frequented by government officials and international workers.
“We have seen around six people killed, most of them hotel security guards,” said government security officer Mohamed Jama, adding that casualty numbers might rise.
A huge blast shook the area on Sunday afternoon, sending a thick plume of smoke high into the air. The African Union force, AMISOM, which is fighting al-Shabab insurgents, confirmed the explosion at the Jazeera Palace Hotel.
“There was a heavy explosion at the Jazeera Palace hotel, there are casualties,” said police officer Abdirahman Ahmed.
Photo: Aftermath of the huge car bomb in #Mogadishu #Somalia – @MOALIMUU http://t.co/tT7M6KPBlf
— Conflict News (@Conflicts) July 26, 2015
Local resident Abdihakim Ainte, a political analyst, was nearby when the bomb exploded and described a “huge blast” that smashed his window.
#BREAKING A massive plume of smoke was seen rising above the scene of the blast at Jazeera Hotel in #Mogadishu. pic.twitter.com/pF4zIUp9DK
— Mogadishu News (@MogadishuNews) July 26, 2015
He said the hotel, which has been attacked several times in the past by Islamist gunmen, had been “torn apart” by the blast.
Photographs shared on social media showed one side of the multi-story hotel shredded by the explosion.
Mohamed Moalim was inside the hotel when the bomb exploded.
“It was a truck loaded with explosives — and the biggest ever (explosion) around this area,” he said.
The diplomatic missions of both China and Qatar are based in the hotel.
There was no immediate claim of responsiblity, but the Al-Qaeda-affiliated al-Shabab have attacked the hotel before as part of their regular bombing campaign.
Al-Shabab are fighting to overthrow Somalia’s Western-backed government which is propped up and protected by the 22,000-strong AMISOM.
According to the BBC, this was one of the “worst scenes of destruction” that their reporter had ever seen.
Ambulances had already begun to collect the bodies of those injured and killed in the explosion, the British news service reported.
Earlier this weekend, Somalia’s al-Shabab insurgents assassinated a lawmaker and his guards Saturday night, the president reported, just hours after US President Barack Obama said the Al-Qaeda affiliated militants had been “weakened.”
Gunmen sprayed the car of MP Abdulahi Hussein Mohamud with gunfire as he travelled through a southern district of Mogadishu on Saturday, killing him, his two guards and the driver.
Somalian President Hassan Sheik Mohamud said he was “devastated” by the attack, the latest in a string of murders of Somalia’s lawmakers.
“The lawmaker was martyred while serving the nation, but such killings will not deter us from going forward,” Mohamud told reporters.
Al-Shabab said in a statement that their “mujahedeen fighters targeted and killed a member of the parliament and his guards”, adding that they “will continue targeting” lawmakers.
Al-Shabab have carried out repeated attacks including a campaign of suicide attacks and assassinations targeting government figures.
UN envoy to Somalia Nicholas Kay called the murders a “despicable act”.
No group has yet taken responsibility for the explosion.
The Times of Israel Community.