08/24/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, USA // Sandra Quinlan // Sandra Quinlan
Mogadishu, Somalia—At least 33 people were killed when several Islamist insurgents raided a hotel in the struggling nation’s capital Tuesday morning, August 24, 2010. Six lawmakers lost their lives in what was regarded as the deadliest attack in months, as reported by the New York Times.
According to a Nairobi-based Somali official, five to eight Islamist militants “disguised as police officers went in and started killing everybody.” The brutal attack took place in the three-story Muna hotel, located in close proximity to the presidential palace in Mogadishu.
A spokesperson for the al-Shabaab Islamist insurgency group confirmed that several al-Shabaab “special forces” personnel were responsible for Tuesday’s fatal attacks. The gunmen, clad in police attire, rushed into the hotel, open firing at everyone in sight.
Witnesses alleged some lawmakers attempted to lock themselves in their hotel rooms for protection, but to no avail. Some insurgents also locked themselves in hotel rooms and proceeded to shoot out the windows.
One of the insurgents, a female, was reportedly wearing an explosive vest and went on to kill herself after government forces caught up with her.
By about noon, Somali officials surrounded the hotel and began storming through the Muna room by room, until all al-Shabaab gunmen were forced to the top floor.
“They killed everyone they saw inside the hotel and then blew themselves up,” said Somalia’s information minister Abdirahman Omar Osman.
The country’s transitional government also called on all Somalis to fight back against the militants, maintaining that a terrorist attack during the holy month of Ramadan is “against Islamic religion.”
The hotel attack comes in the midst of days of deadly street battles, resulting in dozens of fatalities. The violence has also seemingly led many to believe that al-Shabaab insurgents, who have sworn allegiance to Al Qaeda, are making their way into areas that Somalia’s transitional government once claimed it had solid control over.
Since the collapse of the Somali central government in 1991, the African country has been plagued by calamities. Even though the United States and other Western powers have provided Somalia’s transitional government with millions of dollars and artillery, Islamist insurgents control a vast majority of the country.
Legal News Reporter: Sandra Quinlan. World News—Coverage of al-Shabaab insurgents’ attack on Somali hotel.
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