Somalia: Hotel staffers arrested after deadly bombing

MOGADISHU, Somalia Feb 21, 2015 (Garowe Online)- Somalia's intelligence forces arrested 12 staffers for a hotel in connection with deadly double suicide attacks at the hotel that killed 25 people in the Somalia capital on Friday, officials say.

Somalia's security minister Abdirisaaq Omar Mohamed told journalists that 12 employees at the Central hotel were arrested on the onset of a long investigation into the bombing that killed many including two legislators, politicians and wounded the country's deputy prime minister.

"They have probably perpetrated and facilitated that terrorist attack on the hotel." he said.

Security has been improving in the Somali capital since the ouster of Islamist militants from the seaside capital in 2011, however, the
group has since stepped up attacks against the government and the African Union forces.

The latest bombing on the hotel frequented by government officials and politicians highlights security challenges facing the weak government which is trying to restore law and order after more than two decades of war.

Al-Shabab claimed the responsibility for the attack which raised concern for the security lapse by the security agencies.

GAROWEONLINE