BAt least eight civilians were killed in an attack by the Islamist Shebab militia on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu. Most people were rescued from the hotel, “but so far the deaths of at least eight civilians have been confirmed,” said a representative of the security forces on Saturday. “Security forces continued to neutralize terrorists who were encircled in a room in the hotel building.”

The Shebab militia said Friday night on a website affiliated with them that a group of their fighters had broken into the Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu. Officials and eyewitnesses spoke to the AFP news agency of several explosions and shots and subsequent firefights between Shebab fighters and security forces.

A few minutes after the first detonation, a second explosion occurred in front of the hotel, which hit security forces and civilians who had rushed to the scene of the attack in particular.

More shots on Saturday morning

Shots continued to be heard on Saturday morning. The security official said the emergency services rescued “dozens of civilians including children” from the hotel building.

The Shebab militia, which is allied with the al-Qaeda terrorist network, has been fighting the Somali central government for around 15 years. In 2011, African Union forces successfully drove jihadists out of the capital, Mogadishu. However, Shebab fighters continue to control large rural areas and are able to attack civilian and military targets.

On Wednesday, the US government announced the killing of 13 Shebab fighters in airstrikes in central and southern Somalia. The jihadists were therefore involved in fighting against the Somali army. The US Air Force had flown several airstrikes against the militia in recent weeks.

In May, US President Joe Biden announced that he would be relocating soldiers to Somalia – thus reversing the withdrawal from the country decided by his predecessor Donald Trump.