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Car bomb blast kills 8 near hotel in Somalia's capital

HOL
Monday March 13, 2017

Rescuers carry away a man who was wounded in a car bomb attack in Mogadishu, Somalia Monday, March 13, 2017. A suicide car bomber detonated near the Weheliye hotel in the capital Monday morning, killing a number of people on the busy Maka Almukarramah road, police said. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Rescuers carry away a man who was wounded in a car bomb attack in Mogadishu, Somalia Monday, March 13, 2017. A suicide car bomber detonated near the Weheliye hotel in the capital Monday morning, killing a number of people on the busy Maka Almukarramah road, police said. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
Rescuers carry away a man who was wounded in a car bomb attack in Mogadishu, Somalia Monday, March 13, 2017. A suicide car bomber detonated near the Weheliye hotel in the capital Monday morning, killing a number of people on the busy Maka Almukarramah road, police said. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)
A wounded man reaches out to rescuers after a car bomb attack in Mogadishu, Somalia Monday, March 13, 2017. A suicide car bomber detonated near the Weheliye hotel in the capital Monday morning, killing a number of people on the busy Maka Almukarramah road, police said. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)


Mogadishu (HOL) - A suicide car bomber attacked a hotel in Mogadishu on Monday morning, killing at least 8 people and wounding four others.

The attacker parked his car in front of Weheliye Hotel on Maka Almukarammah road.

Captain Mohamed Hussein of the Somali police said that emergency response services were on the scene quickly and transported the wounded to the hospital. Security forces quickly  cordoned off the area to investigate the bomb scene.

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Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for today’s attack through a statement on pro-insurgent Radio Andalus. The statement claims that 30 people were killed in the bomb attack including intelligence officers and former MP’s. Al Shabaab often inflates the numbers of those killed in their attacks.

Meanwhile, in a separate but likely related incident across town, a suicide bomber detonated a minibus packed with explosives at a military camp in souther Mogadishu. The only casualty in that attack was the bomber although two others were wounded according to a senior military commander.

Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire condemned the attacks by “bloodthirsty groups”.

In a bid to curb Al Shabaab attacks, President Farmajo promised $100K to anyone who gives authorities credible information that leads to the thwarting bomb attacks.

In January, a truck bomb detonated at a busy intersection in Mogadishu’s Wadajir district ripped through Kawa-Godey market just after Dhuhr prayers killing at least 35 and injuring scores more.

Al Shabaab was ousted from the capital in 2011. Since then the rebel insurgency group - which has vowed to fight the government - carries out suicide bomb attacks in hotels and markets and targeted assassinations of military and government personnel.

 





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