...... Somalia's version of the Taliban...mindless ferocity in a turban...
, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda...
has released a statement claiming a complex attack at a hotel in Mogadishu, the Somali capital on Friday night.
The attack began with a boom-mobileing rammed into the gates and then heavily armed button men stormed the Hayat hotel building located at the Km4 intersection in the city.
A second blast was heard minutes later as the hotel came under siege by al-Shabaab attackers who are still holed up in the building.
There are reports of casualties but the exact numbers are unclear. The security forces were deployed in the area and are fighting against the button men inside the hotel.
More to come soon.
| Garowe adds: |
In a memo issued to various media houses, al-Shabaab
...... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...Lions of Islam claimed that its suicide infantry fighters have stormed Hayaat Hotel which is next to Hotel Sahafi. The Lions of Islam usually target places that host diplomatic missions and people sympathetic to the government.
Government Security officials on the ground did not at first confirm the reports. Gunfire was heard in the vicinity of the busy city and it was immediately not clear how many people may have succumbed to the ugly incident in the Horn of Africa nation.
Reports indicated that al-Shabaab Lions of Islam stormed Hayat Hotel at the strategic K-4 junction in Mogadishu where multiple sources confirmed. There were casualties among them two security officers who reportedly sustained minor injuries.
Two security bigshots - Mogadishu spy head Muhayadin Warbac and Mahad Korow, a police officer were maimed in the attack which is still ongoing at the hotel, according to the sources.
Security forces were still fighting to take hotels back from Lions of Islam following mismanagement of the security issues particularly from those in charge. A number of those who arrived at the scene were badly injured and a number of them were evacuating political elites from the region.
Witness video shows Hayat Hotel guests being rescued by security forces, who responded to distress calls.
