Somali MPs Die in Hotel Attack as US Kills Garissa University Mastermind

At least two Somali MPs died and four others were rescued in Al-Shabaab’s hotel attack yesterday in Mogadishu, Somalia, BBC has confirmed.

The deceased members of parliament were identified as Abdullahi Jama Kabaweyne and Mohamoud Mohamed Gure.

According to Somalia’s state news agency, the attack left at least 16 people dead and 50 others wounded, amid fears that the death toll might rise.

Eyewitnesses say the attackers first set off a car bomb at the entrance before proceeding to the hotel, where they staged a shooting spree.

The Ambassador Hotel, located on Maka al-Mukarama Street, is known to host high-profile guests, including diplomats and local politicians.

The explosion is said to be one of the largest ever to hit Mogadishu.

Previous Attacks

For almost a decade, Al-Shabaab has been carrying out deadly terror attacks in Mogadishu, the Somali capital.

In April this year, at least five people were killed and seven others injured in a suicide bomb attack on a restaurant adjacent to a government building in Mogadishu. The Islamist terror group claimed responsibility for the attack.

A month after the restaurant attack, three police officers and two civilians were killed when a car bomb exploded outside traffic police headquarters in Mogadishu, Somalia.

The militant group has been fighting the Federal Government of Somalia in a bid to establish an Islamic state in the country.

Garissa University Mastermind Killed

Yesterday’s hotel attack comes a day after Somali authorities reported the death of Mohamed Kuno, the person behind the horrific terror attack on Garissa University in Kenya in April 2015.

Kuno was killed alongside 16 other Al-Shabaab militants in an overnight assault by US forces on Tuesday. Four of the slain fighters are said to be senior members of the terror group, according to BBC.

After the Garissa attack, which left 148 people dead, the Kenyan government placed a 20 million shilling bounty for Kuno’s arrest.

He is said to have served as a headmaster at an Islamic school in Garissa, Northern Kenya, before he joined the Union of Islamic Court (UIC) in Somalia in 2007. He later joined Al-Shabaab in 2010, which was previously known as Hizbul Islam.