The dead in an attack by the jihadist group Al Shabab against a hotel in Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, have risen to fourteen, Somali Police spokesman Abdifatah Duudushe confirmed to the press today.
The attack began on Friday night and lasted about 15 hours, after members of the Somali jihadist group forced their way into the Hayat Hotel building, frequented by politicians and government officials, and randomly shot civilians who were they found in it.
Security sources told the press that they have rescued a large number of civilians from the hotel, including three children, according to the local portal Goobjoog.
Among the deceased are the owner of the hotel and other businessmen.
According to a witness told the local media Garowe Online, at least three explosions were heard near the Hayat Hotel on Friday night.
In a statement, Al Shabab, a Somali group affiliated with Al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that its fighters committed suicide in the assault on the hotel.
Al Shabab, a group affiliated with the Al Qaeda network since 2012, often perpetrates terrorist attacks in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, and other parts of Somalia to overthrow the central government and establish by force a Wahhabi (ultra-conservative) Islamic State. .
Al Shabab controls several parts of Somalia, especially rural areas in the center and south, and attacks neighboring nations such as Kenya.
Somalia has been in a state of war and chaos since 1991, when dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was overthrown, leaving the country without an effective government and in the hands of Islamist militias and warlords.