Security forces end Islamist hotel siege, death toll rises to 21

On Saturday evening, August 20, Somali security forces ended a hotel siege in Mogadishu by Shebab jihadists, which lasted for about thirty hours and left a dozen civilians dead, a senior security official announced.

“The security forces have now lifted the siege, the gunmen are dead and we have not received any fire from the building in the last hour.”, the official announced on condition of anonymity in the middle of the night. Jihadists stormed the popular Hyatt Hotel on Friday night and engaged in shooting and explosions. Somalia’s health minister announced on Sunday that 21 civilians had been killed and “117 wounded” in the attack.

It was the biggest attack in Mogadishu since Somalia’s new president, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, took office in June after months of political instability. Shebab, which has been insurgent against the Somali central government for 15 years, has claimed responsibility for the operation.