Somali Officials, UN condemn Kismayo Hotel attack as death toll rises to 30

Jubbaland security forces on Saturday early morning ended an overnight attack by the Al-Shabaab Islamist militant group on a hotel in the southern port city of Kismayo that killed over 30 people including prominent politicians and journalist and injured more than 60 people.

The operation was concluded at 7 am, and 30 people have been confirmed dead, many people have been rescued including federal members of parliament and Jubaland administration officials.

The four Al-Shabaab attackers were shot dead inside the hotel.

Members of the al-Qaeda linked group stormed the hotel after targeting it with a car bomb on Friday evening while local elders and lawmakers were meeting to discuss approaching regional elections.

A journalists’ group had confirmed on Friday that two journalists were among the dead; Somali-Canadian journalist Hodan Naleye, the founder of Integration TV, and Mohamed Sahal Omar, reporter of SBC TV in Kismayo.

Ahmed Mohamed Islan, also known as Madobe, the president of the Jubbaland regional administration, said another 56 people were wounded.

“Our valiant security forces have ended the hotel attack after long hours of battle with the evils, and eventually protected many innocent people who were holed up in their hotel rooms,” Madobe said in a statement.”

Madobe said “those killed in the attack included two journalists, a presidential candidate for upcoming regional elections, and a U.N. agency staff member.  He said “Kenyans, Americans, a Briton, Tanzanians and a Canadian were among the dead”.

Somalian President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has described the attack as “one of the wicked and the cowardly attacks by terrorists against Somali people.”

“We express our condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the attack and wish a swift recovery to the injured,” Farmajo said in a statement.

“The attack shows how the enemy of the Somali people are willing to target innocent civilians regardless of where they are,” the president said.

UN condemns the brutal attack

The Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemns the terrorist attack that took place on 12 July in Somalia’s port city of Kismayo.

He expresses his condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the attack and wishes a swift recovery to the injured.

The Secretary-General reaffirms the support and solidarity of the United Nations with the people of Somalia in their pursuit of a peaceful future.

Al Shabaab was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 and has since been driven from most of its other strongholds has taken the responsibility of the attack.

Al-Shabaab was also driven out of Kismayo in 2012. The city’s port had been a major source of revenue for the group from taxes, charcoal exports and levies on all imports.

Kismayo is the commercial capital of Jubbaland, a region of southern Somalia still partly controlled by Al-Shabaab.

Al-Shabaab remains a major security threat, with fighters frequently carrying out bombings in Somalia and neighboring Kenya, whose troops form part of the African Union-mandated peacekeeping force that helps defend the Jubbaland Administration.