Somali PM Vows Accountability After Deadly Hotel Attack

After the latest al-Shabab attack on a popular Mogadishu hotel which killed 21 people and injured 117 others, Somalia’s prime minister is promising accountability over the incident.

Hamza Abdi Barre said the government takes responsibility for what happened in Friday’s attack on the Hayat Hotel.

After visiting hospitals treating the injured victims, Barre said those who failed to “perform their duties, anyone who fell short, and anyone who infringed will be held accountable.” He added, “A repeat of what has happened is not acceptable.” The comments aired late Sunday on state television.

He did not single out any person or government branch for specific blame.

Mukhtar Robow, the former deputy leader of al-Shabab, now the country’s religious affairs minister, condemned the attack as well in a televised speech, along with religious clerics.

“This is not right and you know it,” Robow said in remarks aimed at al-Shabab. “Give up and repent.”

Robow, also known as Abu Mansour, called for unity against the Islamist militant group.

Government troops ended al-Shabab’s siege on the hotel after a 30-hour operation.

Al-Shabab has been carrying out raids on hotels, government ministries, and installations since 2010. While this attack is not unique, observers believe the group was responding to recent rhetoric from new Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who said he has come up with a new strategy to weaken the group before opening the door for possible negotiations.

The government and its allies will wage military, ideological, and economic war against the group, the president said.

Al-Shabab is attempting to counter the government’s pronouncements, said Samira Gaid, executive director of the Hiraal Institute, a Mogadishu-based research institution.

“It was also a message to the administration and the public as well that they cannot be simply eradicated,” she said.

Al-Shabab and Abdiaziz Abu Mus’ab did state the group was responding to the president.

A senior Somali government security official who requested anonymity because he does not have the authorization to speak to the media told Granthshala Somali that security branches believe al-Shabab surveilled the hotel before the attack. He said security officials believe the attackers watched the video of the entrances and the hotel’s rooms.

The official said seven militants were directly involved in the attack. Three of them were suicide bombers. The first one blew himself up at the gate at about 7:00 pm local time on Friday, followed by a car bomb explosion by another suicide bomber.

A third bomber detonated his suicide vest after security forces led by Muhiyadin Warba, the chief of the Mogadishu branch of the national intelligence and security agency (NISA), reached the hotel.

“The [third] bomber impersonated a guest who needed to be rescued and he detonated himself among the security forces, injuring nine,” the official said. One of the nine was Warba, who is now recovering.

Officials said they are investigating whether other people inside the hotel aided al-Shabab. Officials are not ruling out the possibility that some individuals who assisted in the attack hid among those rescued and escaped.