At least 30 people were killed in a nearly 30-hour attack by armed militants from the Islamist group Al-Shabaab on the Hayat hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu. The announcement was made on Sunday, August 21, by representatives of the police and hospital staff. The Ministry of Health spoke of 21 dead. Authorities said 117 people were injured, some seriously.

On the night of August 19, attackers broke into a popular hotel located near Aden Adde International Airport. During the operation to free the hotel, which involved US-trained Somali counter-terrorist special forces and Somali police special forces, heavy weapons were used. The hotel robbery ended on the night of August 21.

The exact number of invaders is unknown.

According to police, the attackers, whose number is still unclear, were armed with grenades and Kalashnikovs. According to initial estimates by security forces, there were four to five militants involved. Two attackers were killed, according to police. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack, saying at least 40 people were killed in the attack.

Just before the attack, two suicide bombers blew themselves up in two cars. The al-Shabaab group also claimed responsibility for the mortar attack on the airport. Somali security authorities confirmed that the attack killed a woman and her four children.

The biggest terrorist attack of the last three months

The attacks were the first large-scale terrorist attack since Somali’s newly elected president, Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, took office in May this year. The Secretary-General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, condemned the attack and reaffirmed the UN’s solidarity with the Somali government in the fight against terrorism.

The country of about 16 million people has been under attack for years by the Al-Shabaab group, which controls much of its southern and central regions.