Popular Hotel in Somalia Is Bombed by Militants

Popular Hotel in Somalia Is Bombed by Militants 

  

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Islamist militants stormed a popular hotel in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalian's capital, on Sunday, blowing up the 

front gate With a car bomb, shooting guests and hotel workers, and then battling With security forces from the hotel's rooftop for several hours. 

Somali government officials said at least 14 people at the Sahafi Hotel were killed in the attack, which was immediately — and gleefully — claimed 

by the Shabab militant group. 

If there is one hotel everyone knows in Mogadishu, it is the Sahafi_ Warlords and militants alike used to hang out and p Ot schemes in the lounge 

and courtyard While sipping grapefruit juice and pulling apart camel meat Steaks. 

Sahafi means journalist in Arabic, and for years the hotel has served as the gateway to one of the world's most dangerous countries for foreign 

journalists, aid workers and the rare brave businessman. Even in the hardest times, the staff managed to prov'de clean rooms and good food. 

Lobster was one of the house specialties, served alongside mountains of French fries. Recently, the hotel was a popular rendezvous spot for 

officials from Somalias fledgling government. 

The Sahafi Hotel after a car bomb exploded and killed at least 14 people. 
Around dawn on Sunday, Witnesses said, a Car rammed into the Sahafi's front gate and immediately exploded Several Shababl-Sl fighters then 

scrambled into the hotel, Shooting guestSA second Car bomb exploded hours later, wounding several journalists and Other people Who had 

rushed to the hotel, located at a busy traffic Circle in central Mogadishu, to See What had happened. One young journalist, Mustaf Abdinur 

Safaana161 a freelance TV cameraman, was killed. 

Among the other dead, witnesses said, were a Somali lawmaker, a Somali Army general and the hotel's owner, Abdirashid Ilgayte, who used to 

welcome guests into his office just off the hotel's entrance and regale them With stories ofvlolence and intrigue from Somalia's darkest days. 

-The Shabab fighters seized the hotel and controlled it for several hours," said Mohamed Ali, a taxi driver who was outside the Sahafi while the 

fighting was going on. 

The Shabab remain a potent force in Somalia. They have lost many fighters and much of their territory, pushed out by a coalition of troops from 

neighboring African countries. But they are still highly dangerous and considered one of Al Qaeda's most murderous offshoots. They seemed to 

have perfected mass murder on the cheap, including an attack on a university in Kenya in April In which four young Shabab gunmen killed more 

than 140 people. 

"Muiahedeen entered and took over Sahaft Hotel where enemies lived," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, the Shabab's military operations spokesman, 

told Reuters on Sunday, using a common term for Islamic guerrilla fighters. 

Multipronged attacks on hotels191 have become one of the hallmarks of the Shabab, who have killed scores in Mogadishu in recent years by 

overwhelming security guards at the gates and rhen sending in suicidal fighters. The Shabab have vowed to turn Somalia into a pure Islamic state; 

most of their Victims have been Somali Muslims. 

Photographs taken by bystanders on Sunday showed a huge hole punched through the Sahafi's third floor, along with streams of black smoke 

uncoiling into the sky. Rubble was scattered for blocks. Witnesses said several members of the hotel staff had been hiding in locked rooms, calling 

for help, as Shabab fighters stalked the smoke filled corridors, looking for more Victims. 

By I a.m., African Union1101 troops in Somalia, along With government forces, the attackers and Shot them dead. Somali 

Officials said there Were Seven attackers. 

Mogadishu may safer than it used to be, but it is still not safe. The Shabab once controlled much of the city, bullwhipping women and 

terrorizing the population by enforcing a harsh version of Islamic law. But even after being pushed out by African Union( I I I troops, Shabab 

fighters have shown they can strike anywhere at any time. 

Somalia's government tried to play down some ofthe concerns stirred up by the attack. President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud of Somalia said on 

Sunday, "We want to confirm that such terrorist acts does not mean Shabab's revival, but in the contrary show'S clear signs that they are in 

desperate situation." 

This article is an outcry to the world to make them aware, once again, of the constant terror in
the Somali nation. Although the New York Times reports on the situation in
Somalia, them being so far away makes them often less truly sympathetic or
urgent to make a change even as they learn the truth. It is very significant
that the Shabab hits such prominent hotel, hosting what little is left of the
"outside world." It shows how they want to completely cut off Somali
a and be in absolute control. It also shows just how vulnerable the nation is
constantly, despite political leaders' statements. It is also significant how
they name the hurt and dead, putting very little emphasis on the Somalians
killed. It shows just how little the West has come to care for the situation
unless their own citizens are involved. This article shines a little light on
the dark situation in Somalia,  a call to the world not to forget this nation despite their voice being muffled to a mere
whisper.  



Author: Mohammad Ibrahim



Ibrahim, Mohammad.
"Popular Hotel in Somalia Is Bombed by Militants." The New York Times. New York Times Company, 1
Nov. 2015. Web. 2 Nov. 2015.