14 Dead, 25 Injured In Attack At Somali Hotel
KABUL: (MEP) At least 14 people have been killed while 25 others sustained injuries after Al-Shabab militants attacked a hotel and a nearby public garden in the Somali capital on Friday night, exchanging fire with hotel guards.
The incident occurred when the terrorists detonated two car bombs near a security checkpoint close to a park known as the Peace Garden, killing two guards.
Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate, is waging an armed insurgency in Somalia.
The hotel, situated near the presidential palace and is popular with government authorities and foreign businessmen.
Capt. Mohamed Hussein said four gunmen and the suicide bomber were killed, adding that the attackers did not get past the last security checkpoint.
Eyewitnesses at the Peace Garden said there were many people in the park at the time of the attack.
The attack came a day after al-Shabab militants claimed responsibility for a mortar attack that killed at least three civilians and injured at least eight more in the capital. Mortars were reportedly fired at the presidential palace but they missed their target.
