Newly elected Somalia leader Sheikh Mohamud was attacked while he was staying and meeting Kenyan dignitaries at a hotel in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu.
Mogadishu, Somali / NationalTurk – At least three killed in attack on Mogadishu hotel where newly elected leader was meeting Kenyan dignitaries. He escaped the assasination attempt though.
Explosions and gunfire have rocked the Mogadishu hotel where the newly elected Somali president Mohamud end his entourage were meeting with Kenya’s foreign minister and other dignitaries, according to witnesses.
The attack occurred at the Jazeera Palace hotel in Mogadishu on Wednesday. Two explosions had taken place, and that gunfire had erupted immediately after the first blast.
The vicious assasination attempt on Somalia President Mohamud continued as a bomb exploded outside the hotel gate, followed by an exchange of fire. Initial reports state that at least three people had been killed.
The bomb attack was an assassination attempt on Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the newly elected Somali president. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud and Sam Ongeri, the Kenyan foreign minister, escaped unharmed.
Somali President Mohamud escapes series of bomb and suicide attacks in Mogadishu
“There has been a blast around the hotel where the president was. The president is safe. All the people who were inside the hotel are safe,” Colonel Ali Houmed, a spokesman for the African Union force in Somalia, told the AFP news agency.
Mohamud was elected on Monday, beating Sheik Shariff Sheikh Ahmed who was seeking re-election after leading a transitional government in ever-troubled African state Somalia for 3 staright years.
Mohamud had been addressing a joint press conference with Ongeri when the attacks took place on Wednesday.
“First and foremost we will address the security issue. Priority number one is security and priority number two and priority number three,” Mohamud said moments after the blasts, continuing for several minutes before being whisked away by security staff.
Al Shabab claims responsibility for Mogadishu hotel attacks to assasinate new Somalia president
The new president is expected to form a fully functioning government for Somalia which has not had one since 1991, when a longtime dictator was overthrown.
Al-Shabab, a radical Islamist militia, named as Al Kaide’s African cell that is waging a blood war against the Somali government, opposed Sheikh Mohamud’s election stating the elections had been manipulated by the west.
The terrorist group claimed immediately responsibility for the attack on Wednesday, according to a spokesman.
“We are responsible for the attack against the so-called president and the delegation, he is not representing Somalia or Somalian people” Al Shabab spokesman Ali Mohamud Rage told NationalTurk.
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