Somali forces Saturday morning ended an all-night siege on a hotel in the southern port city of Kismayo, in which the death toll was 26 people, including a prominent Canadian-Somali journalist and several foreigners, officials say.

Those killed include three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans, one Canadian and one Briton, said Ahmed Madobe, the president of Jubbaland regional state which controls Kismayo. Fifty-six people, including two Chinese, were injured in the hotel attack, he told reporters.

At least four al-Shabab assailants attacked the Asasey Hotel Friday evening, beginning with a suicide car bomb at the entrance gate and followed by an assault by gunmen who stormed the hotel, which is frequented by politicians, patrons and lawmakers.

The attack lasted more than 14 hours before troops shot dead all attackers inside the hotel compound, Col. Abdiqadir Nur, a local police officer, told The Associated Press.

Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack. Al-Shabab, which is allied to al-Qaida, often uses car bombs to infiltrate heavily fortified targets like the hotel in Kismayo, which has been relatively quiet in recent years.

Canadian journalist Hodan Nalayeh and her husband, Farid Jama Suleiman, died in the attack, Mogadishu-based independent radio station Radio Dalsan confirmed to AP.

“I’m absolutely devastated by the news of the death of our dear sister Hodan Nalayeh and her husband in a terrorist attack in Somalia today. What a loss to us. Her beautiful spirit shined through her work and the way she treated people,” Omar Suleiman, a Texas-based imam who knew the victim, wrote on social media.

Nalayeh was born in Somalia in 1976, but spent most of her life in Canada, first in Alberta and then in Toronto. She founded Integration TV, an international web-based video production company aimed at Somali viewers around the world. She was the first Somali woman media owner in the world. </s> At least 26 people, including a prominent journalist and several foreigners, have been killed in an attack on a hotel in southern Somalia.

A suicide bomber rammed a car containing explosives into the Asasey hotel in the port of Kismayo, and gunmen then stormed the building

Journalist Hodan Naleyah and her husband are thought to be among the dead.

A local politician, three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans and and one Briton were also killed, authorities say.



How did the attack unfold?

Regional politicians and clan elders were inside the hotel discussing a forthcoming regional election when the attack began.

Witnesses said they heard a huge blast before several heavily armed men forced their way in.

"There is chaos inside, I saw several dead bodies carried from the scene and people are fleeing from the nearby buildings," one witness, Hussein Muktar, said during the attack.

It took several hours for authorities to regain control over the hotel.

Regional President Ahmed Mohamed put the death toll at 26 with more than 50 people wounded. Four attackers were also killed in the raid.

Who were the victims?

Local media and a Somali journalists' association said Nalayeh, 43, and her husband Farid were among the dead.

Nalayeh founded the media platform Integration TV to tell stories about life in Somalia and in the Somali diaspora. Recent episodes had focused on Somalia's female entrepreneurs and things to do in the city of Las Anod.

She moved to Canada with her family when she was six years old and went on to become a figurehead of the Somali community there. But the mother of two had recently returned to Somalia.

Tributes have been paid to her, with BBC journalist Farhan Jimale calling her "a beautiful soul" while Canada's immigration minister Ahmed Hussen said she was a "voice for many".

The Somali Journalists Syndicate said that Nalayeh and another reporter also killed in Kismayo, Mohamed Omar Sahal, were the first journalists to be killed in the country this year.

How common is this type of attack?

Somalia sees frequent militant attacks but after al-Shabab was driven out of Kismayo in 2012 the port has been relatively peaceful.

The militants have been carrying out regular attacks in the capital Mogadishu, despite the heavy presence of African Union peacekeepers and US-trained Somali troops.

Al-Shabab is affiliated with al-Qaeda and remains a powerful presence in rural Somalia. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Damage and shock after the worst attack in Kismayo for years

At least 26 people, including a prominent journalist and several foreigners, have been killed in an attack on a hotel in southern Somalia.

A suicide bomber rammed a car containing explosives into the Asasey hotel in the port of Kismayo, and gunmen then stormed the building.

Journalist Hodan Nalayeh, 43, and her husband Farid were among the dead.

Islamist group al-Shabab has claimed the attack, the worst to hit Kismayo since they were forced out in 2012.

A local politician, three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans and one Briton were also killed, authorities say.

How did the attack unfold?

Regional politicians and clan elders were inside the hotel discussing a forthcoming regional election when the attack began on Friday.

Witnesses said they heard a huge blast before several heavily armed men forced their way in.

"There is chaos inside, I saw several dead bodies carried from the scene and people are fleeing from the nearby buildings," one witness, Hussein Muktar, said during the attack.

It took 12 hours for authorities to regain control over the hotel.

Regional President Ahmed Mohamed put the death toll at 26 with more than 50 people wounded. Three attackers died in the raid while one was captured.

Who were the victims?

Hodan Nalayeh founded the media platform Integration TV to tell stories about life in Somalia and in the Somali diaspora.

Recent episodes had focused on Somalia's female entrepreneurs and things to do in the city of Las Anod.

She moved to Canada with her family when she was six years old and went on to become a figurehead of the Somali community there. But the mother of two had recently returned to Somalia.

She once spoke about how she would like to be remembered after her death.

"My vision is not to be famous and to make money. My mission is what I will leave behind when I die and what will I be remembered for," she said.

"One of the things is that I want people to remember that I loved the Somali people and want them to be brothers and to remember the importance of our unity for our country."

Tributes have been paid, with BBC journalist Farhan Jimale calling her "a beautiful soul" while Canada's Immigration Minister Ahmed Hussen said she was a "voice for many".

The Somali Journalists Syndicate said that Nalayeh and another reporter also killed in Kismayo, Mohamed Omar Sahal, were the first journalists to be killed in the country this year.

How common is this type of attack?

Somalia sees frequent militant attacks but after al-Shabab was driven out of Kismayo the port has been relatively peaceful.

The militants have been carrying out regular attacks in the capital Mogadishu, despite the heavy presence of African Union peacekeepers and US-trained Somali troops.

Al-Shabab is affiliated with al-Qaeda and remains a powerful presence in rural Somalia. </s> MOGADISHU/GAROWE, Somalia (Reuters) - Islamist gunmen killed 26 people, including Kenyans, Americans, a Briton and Tanzanians, when they stormed a hotel in Somalia’s southern port city of Kismayo, a regional state president said on Saturday, the deadliest day in the city since insurgents were driven out in 2012.

A car bomb exploded at the hotel where local elders and lawmakers were having a meeting on Friday night, and then three gunmen stormed in, police said. It took 11 hours before security forces ended the overnight attack, police officer Major Mohamed Abdi told Reuters.

The dead included a presidential candidate for August’s regional elections, Jubbaland state president Ahmed Mohamed Madobe said in a statement. At least two journalists and a U.N. agency staff member were also reported to have been killed.

Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab, which is trying to topple Somalia’s weak U.N.-backed government, immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Regional president Madobe said that three Kenyans, one Briton, two Americans and three Tanzanians were among those killed.

“Among the dead was also a Jubbaland presidential candidate named Shuuriye. Four militants attacked the hotel. One of them was the suicide car bomber, two were shot dead and one was captured alive by Jubbaland security forces,” he said.

He said 56 people were wounded in the attack, including two Chinese citizens.

Police had said earlier all the attackers had been killed.

Jubbaland’s minister of planning, Just Aw Hersi, confirmed the deaths of several prominent Somalis on Twitter.

“We admit, we are heartbroken by their sudden violent deaths. But rest assured, we are also as mad as hell because of it,” he tweeted.

The Somalia office of the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration said on Twitter one of its local staff members, Abdifatah Mohamed, was among those killed.

SADO Somalia, a local non-governmental organisation, also said on Twitter its executive director Abdullahi Isse Abdulle had been killed in the attack.

A journalists’ group had confirmed on Friday that two journalists were among the dead; Somali-Canadian journalist Hodan Naleyah, the founder of Integration TV, and Mohamed Sahal Omar, reporter of SBC TV in Kismayo.

Jubbaland president Madobe said Jama Fariid, Naleyah’s husband, had also been killed.

Separately, Mohamed Ibrahim Moalimuu, general secretary of the Federation of Somali Journalists, said in a statement: “We are saddened and outraged by this loss of life, and condemn in the strongest possible terms this appalling massacre.”

Al Shabaab was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 and has since been driven from most of its other strongholds.

It was driven out of Kismayo in 2012 by Kenyan forces supporting a regional militia headed by Mohamed. The city’s port had been a major source of revenue for the group from taxes, charcoal exports and levies on arms and other illegal imports.

Kismayo is the commercial capital of Jubbaland, a region of southern Somalia still partly controlled by al Shabaab.

Al Shabaab remains a major security threat, with fighters frequently carrying out bombings in Somalia and neighbouring Kenya, whose troops form part of the African Union-mandated peacekeeping force that helps defend the Somali government.

It is scheduled to have parliamentary elections this month and presidential elections next month. But relations between Somalia’s central government and its federal states have sometimes been rocky amid arguments over power and resources. </s> Twenty-six people have been killed after Al Shabaab Islamist extremists detonated a suicide car bomb and stormed a hotel in Somalia, with a regional presidential candidate, journalists and a humanitarian worker among the dead.

Police earlier said at least 13 had been killed at the hotel in Kismayo, but the death toll rose sharply.

Kenyans, Americans, a Briton and Tanzanians are among the dead, Jubbaland region's president Ahmed Mohamed said in a statement.

A presidential candidate for upcoming regional elections was also killed in the attack.

Prominent Somali-Canadian journalist Hodan Nalayeh was among those killed, alongside her husband.

Abdiasis Abu Musab, Al Shabaab's military operation spokesman, said the Al Qaeda-linked militant group had been behind the attack.

"First we targeted [the hotel] with a suicide car bomb and then armed mujahideen [guerrilla fighters] stormed the hotel. We are still fighting inside the hotel," he said.

Members of the militant group carried out the attack on Friday (local time) while local elders and politicians were meeting to discuss the approaching regional elections.

The same group claimed responsibility for an attack on a hotel in Kenya in January that killed 21 people.

Police officer Major Mohamed Abdi said security forces had ended the all-night siege.

"Many people have been rescued. The four attackers were shot dead," he said.

Local elder Ahmed Abdulle said the attack had claimed many lives.

'We are heartbroken by their sudden violent deaths'

The Somali Journalists Syndicate said in a statement that two journalists based in Kismayo had been confirmed dead in the attack.

"Mohamed Omar Sahal, SBC TV correspondent based in Kismayo and Hodan Nalayeh, female TV journalist and founder of Integration TV [are] both among [those] killed," Abdalle Ahmed Mumin, the syndicate's secretary general, said.

It said Ms Nalayeh had recently returned from Canada.

Harun Maruf, a Voice of America journalist and author of Inside Al Shabaab, said on Twitter Ms Nalayah strived to write uplifting stories about Somalia and the Somali diaspora.

Mr Maruf said Ms Nalayeh's husband, Farid Jama, had also been confirmed dead, as has prominent civil society figure and humanitarian worker Deq Isse Abdulle.

Aden Aw Hirsi, Somalia's Minister of Planning and International co-operation, said on Twitter: "we are heartbroken by their sudden violent deaths".

"But rest assured, we are also as mad as hell because of it."

Hussein Nur, a shopkeeper in Kismayo, told Reuters: "There were many people including officials and elders, mostly from one clan, who were discussing the coming Kismayo election."

Mr Nur was referring to elections in the city due sometime in August.

State-run Somali National News Agency said in a statement Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire had condemned the attack.

Al Shabaab was ejected from Mogadishu in 2011 and has since been driven from most of its other strongholds.

It was driven out of Kismayo in 2012. The city's port had been a major source of revenue for the group from taxes, charcoal exports and levies on arms and other illegal imports.

Kismayo is the commercial capital of Jubbaland, a region of southern Somalia still partly controlled by Al Shabaab.

It remains a major security threat, with fighters frequently carrying out bombings in Somalia and neighbouring Kenya, whose troops form part of the African Union-mandated peacekeeping force that helps defend the Somali Government. </s> MOGADISHU/GAROWE, Somalia (Reuters) - Islamist gunmen killed 26 people, including Kenyans, Americans, a Briton and Tanzanians, when they stormed a hotel in Somalia’s southern port city of Kismayo, a regional state president said on Saturday, the deadliest day in the city since insurgents were driven out in 2012.

A car bomb exploded at the hotel where local elders and lawmakers were having a meeting on Friday night, and then three gunmen stormed in, police said. It took 11 hours before security forces ended the all-night siege, police officer Major Mohamed Abdi told Reuters.

The dead included a presidential candidate for August’s regional elections, Jubbaland state president Ahmed Mohamed Madobe said in a statement. At least two journalists and a U.N. agency staff member were also reported to have been killed.

Al Qaeda-linked Islamist group al Shabaab, which is trying to topple Somalia’s weak U.N.-backed government, immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Abdiasis Abu Musab, the group’s military operations spokesman, said on Saturday the militants had killed 30 people and four al Shabaab fighters had also been killed. The jihadist group and government officials tend to give differing casualty figures for attacks.

Regional president Madobe said three Kenyans, one Briton, two Americans and three Tanzanians were among those killed.

“Among the dead was also a Jubbaland presidential candidate named Shuuriye. Four militants attacked the hotel. One of them was the suicide car bomber, two were shot dead and one was captured alive by Jubbaland security forces,” he said.

He said 56 people were wounded in the attack, including two Chinese citizens.

Police had said earlier all the attackers had been killed.

The UK Foreign Office said in a statement it was in touch with local authorities seeking more information. U.S. authorities did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Kismayo resident Osman Nur told Reuters the explosion had destroyed huge parts of the hotel and nearby businesses and security forces were deployed all over the city. TV footage showed walls peppered with bullet holes and furniture strewn across the hotel courtyard.

Another anguished resident said she lost relatives in the attack.

“I have been looking for the whereabouts of my nephew who worked at the hotel. I got his dead body this morning and have just buried him,” Halima Nur, a mother of four, told Reuters by phone.

“And this afternoon I will attend the burial of other relatives.”

The Somalia office of the U.N.’s International Organization for Migration said one of its local staff members, Abdifatah Mohamed, was among those killed. SADO Somalia, a local non-governmental organization, said its executive director Abdullahi Isse Abdulle had died in the attack.

Two journalists were among the dead; Somali-Canadian Hodan Naleyah, the founder of Integration TV, and Mohamed Sahal Omar, a reporter for SBC TV in Kismayo.

Jubbaland president Madobe said Jama Fariid, Naleyah’s husband, had also been killed.

“Through her work as a journalist, Hodan highlighted the community’s positive stories and contributions in Canada. She became a voice for many. We mourn her loss deeply, and all others killed in the #KismayoAttack,” Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s immigration minister, said on Twitter.

Also among those killed was Mahad Nur, a Tanzanian hotelier, property developer and supermarket owner.

“Saddened by the death of Mahad Nur following a bomb blast in Kismayu yesterday... My thoughts and prayers are with his family.” Tanzanian deputy health minister Faustine Ndugulile said on Twitter.

Jubbaland’s minister of planning, Just Aw Hersi, confirmed the deaths of several prominent Somalis on Twitter. He said some of the foreigners held dual Somali citizenship.

Al Shabaab was forced out of Mogadishu in 2011 and has since lost most of its other strongholds.

It was driven out of Kismayo in 2012 by Kenyan forces supporting a regional militia headed by Madobe. The city’s port had been a major source of revenue for the group from taxes, charcoal exports and levies on arms and other illegal imports.

Kismayo is the commercial capital of Jubbaland, a region of southern Somalia still partly controlled by al Shabaab.

The group remains a major security threat, with fighters frequently carrying out bombings in Somalia and neighboring Kenya, whose troops form part of the African Union-mandated peacekeeping force that helps defend the Somali government.

Somalia is scheduled to have parliamentary elections this month and presidential elections next month. But relations between the central government and its federal states have sometimes been rocky amid arguments over power and resources. </s> At least 26 people, including a prominent journalist and several foreigners, have been killed in an attack on a hotel in southern Somalia.

A suicide bomber rammed a car containing explosives into the Asasey hotel in the port of Kismayo, and gunmen then stormed the building

Journalist Hodan Naleyah and her husband are thought to be among the dead.

A local politician, three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans and and one Briton were also killed, authorities say.

How did the attack unfold?

Regional politicians and clan elders were inside the hotel discussing a forthcoming regional election when the attack began.

Witnesses said they heard a huge blast before several heavily armed men forced their way in.

There is chaos inside, I saw several dead bodies carried from the scene and people are fleeing from the nearby buildings,” one witness, Hussein Muktar, said during the attack.

It took several hours for authorities to regain control over the hotel.

Regional President Ahmed Mohamed put the death toll at 26 with more than 50 people wounded. Four attackers were also killed in the raid.

Who were the victims?

Local media and a Somali journalists’ association said Nalayeh, 43, and her husband Farid were among the dead.

Nalayeh founded the media platform Integration TV to tell stories about life in Somalia and in the Somali diaspora. Recent episodes had focused on Somalia’s female entrepreneurs and things to do in the city of Las Anod.

She moved to Canada with her family when she was six years old and went on to become a figurehead of the Somali community there. But the mother of two had recently returned to Somalia.

Tributes have been paid to her, with BBC journalist Farhan Jimale calling her “a beautiful soul” while Canada’s immigration minister Ahmed Hussen said she was a “voice for many”. </s> At least seven people were killed on Friday in a suicide bomb and gun attack claimed by Al-Shabaab militants on a hotel in southern Somalia, a security official said.

Authorities said a suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the popular Medina hotel in the southern port town of Kismayo before several heavily armed gunmen forced their way inside, shooting as they went.

The attack is the latest in a long line of bombing and assaults claimed by the Al-Qaeda-linked group.

"We have confirmed the death of seven people including a former local administration minister and a lawmaker," said Abdi Dhuhul, a security official. "The toll may increase since the attack is not over yet."

"The blast rocked the popular Medina hotel formerly known as Cascasey which is located in downtown Kismayo," said security official Abdiweli Mohamed.

"Several gunmen entered and started shooting but the security forces responded quickly and engaged in a gunfight with the terrorists inside the building," he added.

"There is chaos inside, I saw several dead bodies carried from the scene and people are fleeing from the nearby buildings," Muktar said.

"The relatives of local journalist Mohamed Sahal confirmed his death and I'm getting that social media activist Hodan Naleyeh and her husband also died in the blast," another witness, Ahmed Farhan, said.

The Somali journalists' union SJS confirmed the reporters' deaths. "It is a very sad day for Somalian journalists," the union's secretary-general Ahmed Mumin said in a statement.

"Mujahidin fighters carried out a martyrdom attack on one of the hotels accommodating the apostate officials of the Jubaland administration," the group said, referring to an autonomous southern zone in the troubled country whose main city is Kismayo.

According to several sources, most of those staying in the hotel were politicians and traders ahead of upcoming regional elections.

The militant group emerged from Islamic Courts that once controlled central and southern Somalia and are variously estimated to number between 5,000 and 9,000 men.

In 2011, they fled positions they once held in Mogadishu, and have since lost many strongholds.

But they retain control of large rural swathes of the country and continue to wage a guerrilla war against the authorities. </s> MOGADISHU: Twenty-six people were killed and 56 injured in a 12-hour attack by Al Shabaab fighters on a popular hotel that ended early Saturday in the southern Somali port city of Kismayo.

 A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the Medina hotel on Friday before several heavily armed gunmen forced their way inside, shooting as they went, authorities said.

 It was the largest coordinated attack by the Shabaab in Kismayo since 2012 when it lost control of the city.

 The victims included several foreigners and a prominent Somali-Canadian journalist, Nodan Halayeh, who perished along with her husband.

 Three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans, one Briton and one Canadian were among the dead, president Ahmed Mohamed Islam of the semi-autonomous Jubaland region told a news conference.

 “There are also two wounded Chinese citizens,” he added.

 The hotel was packed with politicians and prominent businessmen as meetings were underway for upcoming presidential elections in Jubaland, due in August.

 One of the candidates in the election died in the siege, local authorities said.

 “The whole building is in ruins, there are dead bodies and wounded who have been recovered from inside. The security forces have cordoned off the whole area,” said witness Muna Abdirahman. Another witness Hussein Muktar said: “The blast was very big.”

 “The security forces are in control now and the last terrorist was shot and killed”, security official Mohamed Abdiweli said.

 “There are dead bodies and wounded people strewn inside the hotel,” Abdiweli added.

 He said authorities believed four gunmen, who one witness described as wearing Somali police uniforms, were involved in the attack.

 Halayeh’s death sparked an outpouring of grief on social media.

 She was an ardent campaigner for Somali unity and peace and had started an online TV show named Integration.

 In a recent podcast, Nalayeh said her television programme about the Somali diaspora gave the community a voice.

 “Social media has changed the game for how people learn about culture. So, if we don’t become the creators of our own content, we are going to be at the mercy of other people telling the stories of Africa,” she had said.

 A local journalist, Mohamed Omar Sahal, also died in the siege, the Somali journalists’ union SJS said, adding that these were the first journalist deaths in the country this year.

 Shabaab, the Al Qaeda-linked group, claimed responsibility for the siege describing it as “a martyrdom attack”.

 The US Mission to Somalia condemned the attack and said it would “continue to work with our Somali and other international partners in the fight against violent extremism.”

 The African Union’s Special Representative in Somalia, Francisco Madeira, said the attack was “meant to derail progress in Somalia as the country rebuilds and consolidates the gains made on peace and security.

 “The attackers are a group of people with a criminal, murderous and destructive agenda. They cannot claim to be fighting to bring good governance to the country,” he said.

 — AFP
A car bomb and a gun attack kill at least 26, including two prominent journalists and nine foreigners, in Kismayo, Somalia.