11/29/22, 1:18 AM Somalia Villa Rays attack: Siege ends leaving eight civilians dead - BBC News

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Somalia Villa Rays attack: Siege ends

leaving eight civilians dead
8 hours ago

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11/29/22, 1:18 AM Somalia Villa Rays attack: Siege ends leaving eight civilians dead - BBC News

REUTERS

Ambulances have been taking the injured to hospital after the deadly attack

By Emmanuel Igunza & Sam Hancock

BBC News

Somali forces have ended a more than 20-hour battle to regain control of a
hotel seized by militants in Mogadishu on Sunday evening.

At least 14 people were killed, including eight civilians, during the siege, police
say.

Militants from the al-Shabab group , which said it was behind the attack, had
been holed up in one of the rooms in the Villa Rays hotel.

Witnesses told the BBC they heard explosions and gunshots at the hotel.

Somali police have said that 60 people were rescued from the hotel, which is
near the presidential palace.

As well as the eight civilians who died during the siege, one soldier was killed
as well as five al-Shabab fighters, police spokesperson Sadik Dodishe
confirmed.

The Villa Rays hotel, which has also been referred to as Villa Rose, is popular
with government officials and several ministers have confirmed being rescued.

At least one minister, Mohamed Ahmed, is reported to have been injured while
another, Environment Minister Adam Aw Hirsi, told reporters he had survived
the attack.

Speaking to the BBC Mr Hirsi described the impact of the initial blast: "We
prayed evening prayers in the small mosque in the hotel and there is this big
explosion, deafening explosion, massive, that shattered glass everywhere, that
shook the foundation of the building in which we were meeting.

"As soon as the explosion took place we had a 120 seconds leeway between
the explosion and the terrorist foot soldiers coming," he continued.

An unknown number of assailants, armed with explosives and guns, were

involved, police officers told Reuters news agency.

One eyewitness described hearing a "huge blast, followed by a heavy exchange

of gunfire".

"We were shaken," Ahmed Abdullahi, who lives close to the scene, told the
news agency. "We are just indoors, listening to gunfire."

Some government officials were rescued from Villa Rays after using windows
to escape said police officer Mohammed Abdi
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11/29/22, 1:18 AM Somalia Villa Rays attack: Siege ends leaving eight civilians dead - BBC News
to escape, said police officer Mohammed Abdi.

In August, three months after taking office, President Hassan Sheikh

Mohamud pledged "total war" against the Islamist militants following an
attack on another popular Mogadishu hotel. More than 20 people died.

Two months later, twin car bomb explosions near a busy junction in Mogadishu
killed at least 100 people. Al-Shabab also said it was behind that attack.

President Mohamud subsequently mobilised the Somali army and

government-backed clan militias in a bid to take villages and towns from al-
Shabab, which controls large swathes of the country.

Al-Shabab has continued to carry out attacks in central and southern Somalia
despite recent government troops backed by African Union forces and local
militias retaking areas previously captured by the group.

BBC Africa correspondent Andrew Harding recently spent time with the so-
called "lightning" brigade, which is funded by the US and plays a central role
in the uprising against al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab has a long history of targeting hotels known to be frequented by

government officials and foreigners.

The militant group's central aim is to topple Somalia's government and

establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law.

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11/29/22, 1:18 AM Somalia Villa Rays attack: Siege ends leaving eight civilians dead - BBC News

More on this story

Rare access to Somalia's US-funded 'lightning' brigade

5 days ago

The men in sarongs taking on al-Qaeda militants

3 November

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11/29/22, 1:18 AM Somalia Villa Rays attack: Siege ends leaving eight civilians dead - BBC News

Who are al-Shabab?

22 December 2017

Related Topics

Somalia al-Shabab

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