At least 10 killed in Jazeera hotel attack

AT LEAST 10 PEOPLE , among them a journalist died and over twenty others were injured in a bomb explosion at the heavily fortified Jazeera Hotel in Mogadishu Sunday.

Medical sources have told Goobjoog News they counted 13 bodies and ferried 21 injured people to the hospital.

‘I counted around 13 bodies at the scene of the blast but I am not sure if there were others on the other side of the building. We have also rushed 21 people with injuries to the hospital,’ said medical personnel from Medina Hospital.

However Internal Security Minister spokesman Mohamed Yusuf who was at the scene told the media that the death toll was just five. ‘We can confirm to you that five people have killed,’ said Yusuf.

Journalist killed

The shockwaves could be felt as far as two kilometres away with residents reporting cracked walls and broken window glasses.

On Saturday, a member of the Somali parliament and an official from the prime minister’s office were killed in separate attacks in the capital claimed by al-Shabaab.

A journalist with Universal TV, Mohamed Abdihakim was among the dead while his colleague Salman Jamal was injured.

The hotel, which is popular with UN staff and senior government officials houses three foreign embassies – Egypt, Qatar and China. However there is no word yet as to whether any of the embassy staff were killed.

A UN staff, Abdirahman Abdishakur, said he was at the hotel but was not hurt.

The attack happened when U.S. President Barack Obama was concluding his tour of Kenya and heading to Ethiopia.

Kenyan attack

A military official from Kenya Defence Forces in Somalia last week told Goobjoog News they were privy to Al-Shabaab plans to launch an attack on Kenyan soil during Obama’s visit. However Kenya put its security forces on alert with reports indicating over 10,000 security personnel had been deployed to Nairobi and defence forces on the border with Somalia.

Speaking during a media conference in Nairobi, Obama said his administration would expand support for counterterrorism operations in Kenya and Somalia, including increased training and funding for Kenya’s security forces.

Joint Somali National Army and African Union backed force, AMISOM offensives have killed scores of Al-Shabaab fighters in the last one month and led to capture of major Al-Shabaab strongholds of Jungal, Bardhere and Dinsoor.

A similar attack two weeks ago in Siyad and Wehliye hotels in Mogadishu claimed 18 lives and injured 17 others.

Goobjoog News