Siege on Mogadishu hotel ends: Somalia state media

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
10 Jun 2023 08:24

Somalia media say security forces "neutralized" militants who carried out a terrorist attack on the Pearl Beach hotel in the Somali capital.

A Somali security forces member standing guard at the Pearl Beach hotel, in Mogadishu, Somalia (Social media)

The Friday night siege of a hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, has ended, state-run news agency SONNA and state TV SNTV confirmed, without specifying casualties.

SNTV reported on Saturday that the Somali security forces "neutralized" militants who carried out "the desperate terrorist attack on the Pearl Beach... in Mogadishu."

It indicated that security forces had rescued "many civilians from inside the hotel" and had shot and killed those responsible.

Police later confirmed that six civilians were killed and ten were wounded in the siege.

"Six civilians were martyred in the attack... and 10 others were wounded. Three brave members of the security forces were martyred," the Somali Police Force said in a statement, adding that 84 people were rescued from the premises.

It’s 2:00 AM local time, Mogadishu’s pearl beach hotel siege is still ongoing.

Four people were confirmed dead. A lot of worried relatives are outside the cordoned area,waiting to meet their family members. pic.twitter.com/a6bfXLFTKZ
— Hussein Mohamed (@HussienM12) June 9, 2023

The terrorist al Shabaab group, which has been waging an insurgency against the federal government for more than 15 years, claimed responsibility for the attack.

While the group has been driven out of Somalia's main towns and cities, it retains power in large parts of rural areas and continues to carry out attacks against security and civilian targets, including in the capital.

Hotels have often been targeted in the past as they tend to host high-ranking Somali and foreign officials, as per the AFP.