Islamist militants from the al-Shabaab Islamist group on Thursday, March 14, attacked a popular hotel near the presidential palace in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, security sources and witnesses said. The assault, for which al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, began at around 9:45 pm when gunmen stormed the SYL hotel in a hail of bullets. "Several gunmen forced their way into the building after destroying the perimeter wall with a heavy explosion," declared security officer Ahmed Dahir. It was not immediately clear if there were casualties.
Witnesses described hearing the attackers shoot indiscriminately. "I don't know about the casualties but there were many people inside when the attack started," said Hassan Nur who escaped by scaling a wall.
The Al-Qaeda-linked jihadists have been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government for more than 16 years and have often targeted hotels, which tend to host high-ranking Somali and foreign officials. Although the militants were driven out of the capital by an African Union force, they retain a strong presence in rural Somalia and regularly carry out attacks against political and civilian targets, including in Mogadishu.