Al-Shaabab Attack on Kismayo Hotel Leaves 9 Civilians Dead

An attack on a hotel in the centre of the port city of Kismayo in southern Somalia killed nine civilians on Sunday before security forces killed the gunmen.

Security officers killed three of the attackers and a fourth died in the bomb blast, said Yussuf Hussein Dhumal, security minister for Jubbaland.

“In the explosion, nine people including students and civilians were killed and 47 others were injured, some of them seriously,” Dhumal said.

“The hotel where the explosion happened was near a school so many students were injured.”

A car laden with explosives rammed the gate of the hotel and was followed by an attack claimed by the al-Shabab armed group.

The port city is the latest to be hit following a resurgence of bloody attacks in recent months by the al-Qaeda-linked organisation, which has mainly targeted the capital Mogadishu and central Somalia.

Sunday’s assault began at 12:45pm (09:45 GMT) when a booby-trapped car rammed the entrance of Hotel Tawakal.

“This is not a government target,” said police officer Abdullahi Ismail. “It is just an ordinary, civilian-frequented hotel.”

But Abdiasis Abu Musab, al-Shabab’s military operation spokesperson, said the group intended to strike Jubbaland region’s administrators who work from the hotel.

Kismayo is the commercial capital of Jubbaland, a region of southern Somalia still partly controlled by al-Shabab, which was driven out of the urban centre in 2012.

By Al Jazeera