By: Danielle L. Gwozdz
Impunity Watch News Reporter, Africa

 

A car bomb exploded by the hotel where African Union and Somali officers were staying. Gunfire continued afterwards for five hours.

The al-Shabab suicide bomber rammed a car into the gates of the hotel before gunmen sprayed the building with bullets, killing many.

This attack occurred at nighttime in Bulobarde yesterday (Tuesday). al-Shabab abandoned Bulobarde last week when African troops advanced on the town in a new offensive aimed to flush the militants from the area.

Six soldiers were killed, including a top Somali army commander, the African Union stated.

However, the al-Shabab, who have claimed responsibility for the attack, have said that 30 African Union and army officers were killed in the attack.

A spokesman for the African Union has stated that all al-Shabab fighters involved in the attack have been killed, but he did not specify how many this was.

Local elder Hassan Nur said his nephew, a military commander, was among the killed.

“Most of the troops and civilians inside the hotel died or were wounded. We couldn’t count how many died because AU (African Union) and Somali forces swarmed all over the place,” Nur said.

The African Union force, known as AMISOM, said it stood with the “fallen soldiers” but did not state how many were killed.

al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, has waged an eight-year insurgency to overthrow the weak UN-backed government and create an Islamic state in Somalia.

Bulobarde, which has a bridge over the River Shabelle and is a crossroads linking various regions of the country, was an important and strategic point for al-Shabab.

al-Shabab lost control of Mogadishu in 2011, but has intensified bombings and mortar raids in the city in recent weeks.

The militants, who seek to impose their version of Islamic law, were driven out of bases in the capital, but have continued to control swathes of countryside and smaller towns, which they use as launch-pads to carry out attacks at home and abroad.

Tuesday’s strike by al-Shabab followed an attack on Monday on a military convoy near the capital Mogadishu, which killed four Somali soldiers, according to an army captain.

al-Shabab said it carried out the attack to punish Kenya for sending troops to Somalia. Kenya said it had arrested two suspected al-Shabab militants on Monday with bombs that might have targeted the coast, which is popular with tourists.

For more information, please visit:

BBC News – Somalia’s al-Shabab attacks army hotel in Bulo-burde – 18 March 2014
The Frontier Post – Al-Shabab attack army hotel – 19 March 2014
Reuters – Somali militant strike kills peacekeepers, government troops – 18 March 2014
The Guardian – Somali militant strike kills peacekeepers, government troops – 19 March 2014