Radical Islamist Shebab attacked a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday (June 9th), the government and witnesses who reported explosions and gunfire.
Al-Shabaab attacked "a hotel on Lido Beach," a place frequented by the authorities, according to a government statement, continuing: "Security forces rescued many people from the building and the operation is still ongoing." "I was near the Pearl Beach restaurant when a loud explosion occurred in front of the building, I managed to flee but there was then heavy fire and security forces rushed into the area," Abdirahim Ali, a witness to the attack, told AFP.
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Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaeda-affiliated group that has been trying to topple Somalia's central government for 15 years, claimed responsibility for the attack. In August 2020, al-Shabaab launched a major attack on the Elite Hotel, a property on Lido Beach, killing ten civilians and one policeman. It took security forces four hours to regain control of the facility.