3 dead and dozens injured in hotel attack close to Somalia’s presidential palace

Catherine Nicholls, CNN
·2 min read

Three people were killed and 27 people injured in a “terrorist attack” at a hotel near Somalia’s presidential palace on Thursday, the country’s state broadcaster Somalia National Television (SNTV) has reported.

According to SNTV, five armed gunmen attacked the SYL Hotel in the capital Mogadishu on Thursday night. All five were shot and killed by Somali security forces, SNTV cites Somali police as saying.

Three soldiers were killed in the attack and 27 more were injured, SNTV reported, adding that many more people, including government officials, were evacuated from the hotel by security forces.

While SNTV did not identify the organization behind the attack, Somali police spokesman Colonel Qasim Ahmed Roble told AFP that the assailants were from terrorist group Al-Shabaab.

Somalian President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited injured victims of the attack at Erdoğan Hospital in Mogadishu on Friday, the state broadcaster said.

The US Embassy in Mogadishu said it “condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist attack,” adding that the US remains “committed to supporting Somali efforts to defeat al-Shabaab,” it said in a post on X.

The US has less than 500 troops in Somalia that assist the Somali government in their ongoing fight against al-Shabaab militants, including carrying out strikes on al-Shabaab targets. The US considers al-Shabaab the largest al-Qaeda network in the world and one of the strongest, with the capability to attack US forces and US interests.

Josep Borrell, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, condemned “the attack by Al-Shabaab at the SYL Hotel in Mogadishu,” he said in a post on X. “We commend the efforts of the Somali forces that have successfully concluded their operation and neutralised assailants,” Borrell added.

The United Nations in Somalia noted that the attack was a violation of the values of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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