Al-Shabaab Bombs Second Mogadishu Hotel During Ramadan

On Saturday, June 25th, al-Shabab terrorists stormed the Mogadishu-based Nasa Hablod hotel after a suicide bomber detonated a vehicular IED at the resort’s entrance. The explosion, which blew a hole in the fencing and gate structure, allowed the jihadists to run inside the building and begin firing upon hotel guests and workers.

One witness described the shooters as rather indiscriminate in their hostility and that they were shooting at “everyone they could see.” After breaking through initial hotel security, the terrorists held themselves up inside the building and managed to take several hostages.

After clashing with jihadists for a number of hours, Somali security forces finally managed to kill the remaining culprits who were trapped on the upper levels of the hotel. Ultimately, the Nasa Hablod siege claimed the lives of 15 people and injured 34 others.

State Minister for the Environment, Buri Hamza, was reported to have been one of the deceased, according to Somali state police.

Hamza was a Canadian resident long known to have fought for the democratic cause in Somalia since his exodus to Canada in the 1990s. During his stay, he attended York University, obtaining a masters in environmental studies, and went on to raise a family in Toronto. In 2012, Hamza returned to Somalia as a legislator to the newly elected Federal Parliament. Since then, he has served several roles in the developing democracy which the country is attempting to solidify.

Hamza and other government officials illustrate the ideal target of al-Shabaab attacks and their efforts to curb citizens from participating in the Somali government. The democratic regime’s demise and its replacement with an Islamic theocracy is the ultimate goal of the Shabaab group, which heavily relies on intelligence information from the Amniyat, an al-Qaeda backed special operation apparatus. In recent years, the group has kept al-Qaeda’s direct influence over the Shbaab terror group, in addition to its other services of executing suicide attacks inside African nations, conducting assassinations, providing logistical support for operations, and interlinking the group’s local and regional commands.

Al-Shabaab’s frequency to attack attractive spots for government officials and tourists in Somalia’s capital city is most likely an operational direction commanded by the Amniyat. Earlier this month, on June 1st, Mogadishu’s  Hotel Ambassador was bombarded with a similar coordinated assault that lead to 16 deaths, two of which were members of the Somali Parliament.

A spokesperson for al-Shabaab, Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, told Reuters news agency following the attack that the hotel was a target because it is frequented by apostate government members.

Yet, it is not only the Amniyat and their larger al-Qaeda handlers that identify hotels as prime targets. Somali residents outline the resorts’ political and tourist appeal as frequent providers of minimal sources of entertainment that allure many residential and foreign inhabitants within Somalia. They often cite hotels as areas for individuals to smoke shisha (tobacco), enjoy dance music, and play games such as dominoes and dice.

Since the increase in resort attacks, Somali residents have discussed their avoidance of hotels and other entertainment areas in Mogadishu. One civilian in particular, Ahmed Ali, said that he stopped going to hotels because they are seen as “death traps” and favorite targets for al-Shabaab.

The increase in al-Shabaab operations inside Somalia indicates resurgence in the group’s desire to wage direct war against the Somali government by specifically targeting government officials such as Buri Hamza, and other leaders closely associated to Western democracies. As Ramadan comes to a close, one should only expect al-Shabaab to continue to seek to exercise complex attacks against Somali government and western-linked targets.