Kismayo (HOL) – Jubbaland authorities said security forces ended Sunday's
Tawakal hotel siege by al Shabab after nearly 8 hours of operations.
Security forces
killed three attackers, and a fourth died in a suicide bomb blast.
The attack began with an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into the Tawakal hotel gate, followed by heavy gunfire at around 12:15 local time.
Jubbaland security minister Yusuf Hussein Osman (Dhumal) confirmed that at least nine people were killed and 47 others were injured during the attack.
Dhumal credited security forces for killing the al Shabab fighters.
The Al Qaeda-linked militant insurgency group Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack.
The hotel where the explosion happened was near a school.
The first suicide explosion caused the most casualties, including primary students passing by the hotel.
Farah Mohamed, a security officer, said a meeting was reportedly held at the hotel before the attack where participants discussed how to combat al Shabab.
Jubbaland regional state President Ahmed Madobe expressed his condolences to the victims of the Tawakal hotel attack and thanked security forces for the rescue operation.
Al Shabaab was driven out of Kismayo in 2012. The city's port had been a significant source of revenue for the group from taxes, charcoal exports, levies on arms, and other illegal imports.
In 2019, a similar attack at another hotel in Kismayo killed at least 26 people.