Mogadishu hotel attack toll rises to 14

MOGADISHU 

The death toll from an attack on a Mogadishu hotel by the Al-Shabaab militant group has risen to 14, Somalia's Information Minister Mohamed Hayir Maareeye said Saturday.

He said the dead victims included two government officials and four security men.

The minister added that 13 more people were injured, including some seriously, in the attack.

Earlier in the day, Somali Special Forces stormed the Makkah al-Mukarama Hotel, liberating hostages taken earlier by Al-Shabaab militants and killing the attackers, the minister said.

He added that elite forces had stormed the hotel "to put an end to this terrorist attack."

Maareeye noted that five Al-Shabaab militants had stormed the hotel and took some people hostage.

Earlier in the day, government officials said that Somali's Ambassador to Switzerland Yusuf Baribari was among the dead victims of the attack.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud condemned the attack, saying it would only bolster the government's resolve to protect Somalis from "terrorist attacks."

He also praised the security forces' efforts to counter the attackers.

The attack began with the detonation of a car bomb at the rear entrance of the hotel, before militants forced their way into the building.

Shortly afterward, a militant blew himself up inside the hotel.

Al-Shabaab later claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted on several of the group's affiliated websites.

Group spokesman Abdel-Aziz Abu Musab was quoted as saying that militants had stormed the hotel, which, he asserted, had been "accommodating apostates."

Al-Shabaab had controlled much of central and southern Somalia for years, but recently lost significant ground to the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) and Somali army troops.

Nevertheless, the group has continued to stage regular attacks on government officials and security personnel.

The Horn of Africa country has remained in relative turmoil since the ouster of Siad Barre in 1991.

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