Somalia’s Syl hotel has been attacked by al-Shabab fighters in Mogadishu on Thursday night.
According to Somali security forces, they have ended the 12-hour siege of a hotel in the capital Mogadishu by killing all five of the gunmen involved.
The attack is reported to have claimed the lives of three soldiers and 27 people injured, including three members of parliament and a government spokesperson, police spokesperson Col. Kasim Ahmed Roble told reporters.
Jihadist group al-Shabab attacked the Syl Hotel, which is popular with government officials on Thursday night.
It is not clear how the gunmen managed to access the hotel which is near the highly guarded presidential palace.
Resident Farah Ali, who lives near the president’s office, told Reuters: “We first heard a huge blast, and then gunfire followed. We understand the fighters are inside [the hotel] for we hear exchange of gunfire.”
“Several gunmen forced their way into the building after destroying the perimeter wall with a heavy explosion,” a security officer told AFP.
Hassan Nur, who escaped by scaling a wall, said: “I don’t know about the casualties but there were many people inside when the attack started.”
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud visited the wounded victims of last night’s terrorist attack on the hotel who are receiving medical care at Erdogan Hospital in Mogadishu.
Then the President visited the Headquarters of the National Intelligence and Security Agency where he was briefed on the initial report of the ongoing investigation into the attack.
