26 killed in deadly Somalia hotel siege

At least 26 people, including several foreigners, were killed and 56 injured in a suicide bomb and gun attack claimed by Al-Shabaab militants on a popular hotel in southern Somalia, a top regional official said yesterday.

A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the Medina hotel in the port town of Kismayo on Friday before several heavily armed gunmen forced their way inside, shooting as they went, authorities said. The siege lasted for almost 12 hours and only ended on Saturday morning after clashes with security forces.

Three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans, one British and one Canadian were among the 26 people killed in the attack, president Ahmed Mohamed Islam of the semi-autonomous Jubaland region told a news conference. “There are also two wounded Chinese citizens,” he added.

AFP confirmed with family members that at least four of the dead had dual nationality.  “The security forces are in control now and the last terrorist was shot and killed”, Mohamed Abdiweli, a security official, said. “There are dead bodies and wounded people strewn inside the hotel,” Abdiweli said.

He said authorities believed four gunmen, who one witness described as wearing Somali police uniforms, were involved in the attack. Shabaab, the Al-Qaeda-linked group, claimed responsibility for the siege describing it as “a martyrdom attack” “There is chaos inside, I saw several dead bodies carried from the scene and people are fleeing from the nearby buildings,” witness Hussein Muktar said during the assault.

“The blast was very big,” he added.