Highlights
- The United Nations Security Council condemned the recent attack that was carried out by the Al Shabaab against the Sahafi hotel in Mogadishu.
- Scores of civilians, a government official and media personnel were on Sunday 1st November 2015 killed when gunmen attacked and took siege of the Mogadishu hotel.
- AMISOM troops broke the siege, salvaging dozens of individuals who had been trapped in the hotel.
Summary
On Sunday 1st November 2015 Al Shabaab gunmen used two car bombs to blast their way into the Sahafi hotel compound before storming the building and exchanging fire with security personnel.
At least 12 people, including former army chief Gen Abdikarim Dhagabadan and MP were killed during the siege.
In statement released Sunday, the United Nations Security Council condemned the attack and paid tribute to the quick response of the Somali National Army in responding to the attack. It also lauded the AMISOM troops who acted promptly to end the siege, rescuing victim who had been trapped in the hotel.
In the statement, Council members reiterated its support for Somalia’s transition to greater peace and stability, underlining their unending support for Somalia against the Al Shabaab.
The latest attack from the Al Shabaab militants affirms the militants strategy to sway any anti-terror operations geared to finish them off.
Al Shabaab militants have increased their attacks against government and AU bases, targeting both civilians and officials even as they continue to lose ground tactically and materially. The militants continue to experience increased infighting within its ranks coupled with lack of finances so that they resort to fighting over taxes.
There is also unrest within the group and its ranks that surrounds the shifting of alliances between militants who want to join the Islamic State and those who would rather stick with the former ally, the Al Qaeda. All the same, this renders the group weak and vulnerable to the rebuffed anti-terror operations.
Their attacks are therefore a militant strategy to sway the anti-terror operations priorities against the terrorist group that is weakening by the day. In the occasion that these priorities are wavered, the group could evolve into a bigger headache.
