Somalia: Security forces neutralise Al-Shabaab fighters behind hotel attack

BELEDWEYNE, Somalia - Somalia's security forces neutralized 3 Al-Shabaab attackers who initiated the attack within Qahira Hotel in the city of Beledweyne, multiple sources confirmed, but the exact number of the masterminds killed in the operation was not immediately revealed.

Sources said the security teams overpowered the militants who had caused massive losses on the premises, killing them after a lengthy exchange of fire between the two groups. The militants are said to have targeted a meeting seeking solutions to eliminating them.

Government officials said at least eleven people were killed including two elders and a man who had been blinded in a previous al-Shabaab attack in Beledweyne three years ago, this month — given their dedication in the fight against the group.

Somalia’s minister of health Ali Haji Adam condemned the “cowardly” Al-Shabaab attack in Beledweyne, confirming that two prominent elders — Adan Raaxa Jecel and Mohamed Osman Farah are among the 7 dead.

The elders are said to have attended a meeting seeking solutions to eliminating the group from the Hiiraan region, which has been the face of the Al-Shabaab crackdown across the country — it is in this region that the first phase of Al-Shabaab crackdown was launched in 2022.

Al-Shabaab militants launched the complex attack on the hotel in the central Somalia town of Beledweyne at the time security forces have intensified operations against the group in central and southern regions in the country where the influence of the group cannot be underestimated.

The militants detonated an explosion followed by gunmen who stormed the hotel where elders and activists were meeting to discuss anti-al-Shabaab mobilizations in western parts of the Hiran region, sources said.

Defeating the group without much assistance from foreign forces reflects the capacity and capabilities of the Somali National Army in complex operations, further showcasing the possibility of the local forces taking over security responsibilities from foreign teams in the near future.

GAROWE ONLINE