26 killed in extremist attack on Somali hotel

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Twenty-six people were killed and 56 injured, including two Chinese, in an attack by Al-Shabaab jihadists on a popular hotel that ended early on Saturday in the southern Somali port city of Kismayo.

The victims included a prominent Canadian-Somali journalist. Three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans and a Briton also were among the dead, said Ahmed Madobe, the president of Jubbaland regional state which controls Kismayo.

"There are also two wounded Chinese citizens," he added.

At least four al-Shabab assailants attacked the Asasey Hotel on Friday evening, beginning with a suicide car bomb at the entrance gate and followed by an assault by gunmen who stormed the hotel, which is frequented by politicians, patrons and lawmakers.

The attack lasted more than 14 hours before troops shot dead all attackers inside the hotel compound, said Colonel Abdiqadir Nur, a local police officer.

Somalia's Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack. Al-Shabab, which is allied to al-Qaida, often uses car bombs to infiltrate heavily fortified targets like the hotel in Kismayo, which has been relatively quiet in recent years.

The attack is a blow to the Somalia government's efforts to hold nationwide, one-person one-vote elections next year.

Security officials cordoned off the site of the attack and prevented journalists from taking photos or video of the damaged hotel and in some cases destroyed journalists' cameras. Government officials have not been available for further interviews.

Canadian journalist Hodan Nalayeh and her husband, Farid Jama Suleiman, died in the attack, Mogadishu-based independent radio station Radio Dalsan confirmed to The Associated Press.

"I'm absolutely devastated by the news of the death of our dear sister Hodan Nalayeh and her husband in a terrorist attack in Somalia today. What a loss to us. Her beautiful spirit shined through her work and the way she treated people," Omar Suleiman, a Texas-based imam who knew the victim, wrote on social media.

Canadian Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Ahmed Hussen mourned Hodan Nalayeh's death on Twitter, saying she "highlighted the community's positive stories and contributions in Canada" through her work as a journalist. "We mourn her loss deeply, and all others killed in the #KismayoAttack," he wrote.

A top official of the African Union condemned the attack.

"This is an attack meant to derail progress in Somalia as the country rebuilds and consolidates the gains made on peace and security," said Francisco Madeira, special representative of the chairman of the African Union Commission. "Somalia has made tremendous progress in seizing territory and pushing out the terrorists from many places across the country."

Agencies

(China Daily 07/15/2019 page11)