An attack claimed by radical Shebab Islamists was underway on Sunday in a frequented hotel in central Mogadishu, Somalia, in front of which a car bomb first exploded, AFP learned from a police officer and witnesses.
This establishment, the Afrik hotel, was surrounded on Sunday evening by the Somali armed forces and its access was cordoned off.
“There is an ongoing attack in a hotel near the KM4 crossroads.
(The explosion of a) car bomb hit the entrance and armed men entered the building.
There is an exchange of fire, ”said Mohamed Adan, a police officer.
Witnesses confirmed that a large explosion took place, followed by smoke, after a high-speed car crashed into the hotel entrance, and before gunfire began.
"The shooting continues"
“The shooting continues.
There was another explosion after the first big explosion, armed men entered the building and the security forces are exchanging gunshots with them, ”said a witness, Osman Saadaq.
"It is very difficult to confirm what is going on inside the building at the moment but there is gunfire and the number of victims could be high," said another witness, Muhubo Said.
No results were known for the moment.
Several photos and videos were shared in the evening on social networks.
"The police, however, ask Internet users to stop broadcasting the scene live in order to avoid compromising the safety of police officers and residents," said Harun Maruf, a journalist specializing in Shabab Islamists, on Twitter.
Video: This is the road from K-4 to the airport tonight.
Gunfire can be heard in the background as security forces battle Al-Shabaab inside #AfrikHotel.
Police are asking people to stop live-streaming from the scene to avoid compromising safety of security forces and residents.
pic.twitter.com/k7Cc4x2a46
- Harun Maruf (@HarunMaruf) January 31, 2021
The shebabs claimed responsibility for the attack in a brief statement.
"The mujahedin are taking part in an ongoing operation inside the Afrik hotel, where members of the apostates are posted," they said on a pro-shebab website.
Somalia has plunged into chaos since the fall of President Siad Barré's military rule in 1991, followed by a war of clan leaders and the rise of the Shebab.
The latter controlled the Somali capital before being ousted in 2011 by African Union (AU) troops who support the fragile Somali government.
They still control large rural areas from which they operate.