Somalia is still in shock after the terrorist attack on the Syl Hotel in Mogadishu on the night of Thursday to Friday. The toll, according to the police, amounts to three dead and 27 injured, including 18 civilians. The assault lasted nearly 13 hours. This is the fifth time that the Syl hotel has been attacked since 2015.
2 mins
With our correspondent in the region, Gaëlle Laleix
A commando of armed men entered the Syl hotel around 9:45 p.m. local time Thursday evening. The attack lasted 13 hours and was claimed by the Islamist group affiliated with al-Qaeda. This hotel, a facility frequented by government officials and parliamentarians, is close to Villa Somalia, the ultra-secure compound that houses the presidency and prime minister’s offices.
According to the latest report, three people were killed and 27 injured. This attack is at least the fifth since 2015 targeting this establishment. The last one, in December 2019, left five people dead.
On X, the American embassy in Mogadishu condemned “ in the strongest terms the attack on the Syl Hotel “. She recalls that the UNITED STATES “ remain committed alongside the Somalia in its efforts to defeat terrorism “.
Unsom, the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Somalia, also condemned this terrorist act, recalling that it is also ” of a violation of the values of the holy month of Ramadan “. Ramadan is a time when shebabs have a habit of intensifying their actions, according to a study by the Hiraal research institute. A way, according to them, to galvanize the troops.
According to a security actor in the region, “ the memorandum of understanding between Ethiopia and the Somaliland and the defense agreement signed between Mogadishu and Ankara also gave fodder to the Shebab communications machine. Some of their arguments affect some Somalis. »
In an interview given to Al Jazeera in February, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud himself said that the group was intensifying its recruitment.