March 2, 2019
MOGADISHU: Twenty-four people were killed in a long-drawn attack by Al-Shabab
insurgents in the heart of Capital Mogadishu starting Thursday. The siege ended
with the elimination of the extremist attackers the next day.
The attack started with a car bomb blast in a busy street of the city on Thursday
evening. A portion of a hotel was damaged. Dozens of cars caught fire on Maka
Almukarramah Road.
Four gunmen began firing at buildings. The extremists holed up inside a building
and exchanged fire with security forces. The attacks continued into Friday.
Doctors at Erdogan Hospital in Mogadishu said they had received 55 wounded
people, AP reported.
Soldiers rescued 35 civilians who were used as human shields by the militants.
The attack began with a militant blowing himself up with car bomb.
Security forces showed photos of bodies of four of the attackers.
The militants confirmed that four of their group had been killed and others
managed to escape.
“The Somali government will never stop its war on Al-Shabab, our aim is to
be done with them, whatever the cost,” Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire told
reporters late on Friday.
The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab is Africa's deadliest Islamic extremist group.
They are fighting the Somalia government, seeking to impose sharia law. The
latest attack was a response to US air strikes on them in the past few days.
