WEAK SECURITY CORDONS BLAMED FOR ANOTHER HOTEL BOMBING IN MOGADISHU
(Posted 15th June 2017)
At least nine people, mostly women, were killed when Al Shabab once again outsmarted African Union and local security and managed to drive another explosive laden car into a hotel gate, a tactic often in the past successfully used to inflict terror on Mogadishu residents.
The Posh Hotel, the only venue in the city with a discotheque, was the target where the suicidal killer rammed his car into the gate but additional reports also speak of a nearby Pizza restaurant having been overrun too and customers taken hostage.
Abdi Sheikh of Reuters, who is based in the Somali capital, reported just minutes ago that some 20 people inside the restaurant were in the hands of the terrorists.
Somalia has not had complete peace since the 1991 ouster of then President Siad Barre and has effectively broken up as Somaliland and Puntland have declared their independence though have not been recognized by any foreign country at this stage. However, government structures are in place and given the circumstances in Somalia’s core areas they are not likely to rejoin a federal union at this stage.
