Gunmen storm hotel in central Somalia, siege ongoing

Voice of America
11 Mar 2025, 18:06 GMT+10

MOGADISHU —

Gunmen stormed a hotel in the town of Baladweyne in central Somalia on Tuesday where local elders and government officials were meeting and a siege is ongoing, witnesses and relatives told Reuters.

Dahir Amin Jesow, a federal lawmaker from Baladweyne, said so far at least four people had been killed but that "we are still counting casualties."

Islamist militant group Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement and said it had killed over 10 people.

Al-Shabab frequently launches bombings and gun attacks in the fragile Horn of Africa nation as it tries to topple the government and establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

"We first heard a huge blast followed by gunfire, then another blast was heard," said Ali Suleiman, a shopkeeper who witnessed the attack.

Parts of the Qahira Hotel had been reduced to rubble as government troops and gunmen exchanged fire, Suleiman added.

Another witness who lives near the hotel, Halima Nur, said gunfire was ringing out intermittently as the siege continued.

Reuters

Reuters is a news agency founded in 1851 and owned by the Thomson Reuters Corporation based in Toronto, Canada. One of the world's largest wire services, it provides financial news as well as international coverage in over 16 languages to more than 1000 newspapers and 750 broadcasters around the globe.

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