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Ministers and senior Somali officials work alongside the establishment on a daily basis. From the Villa Rays hotel, you can see the entrance to Villa Somalia, the presidency, a hundred meters away. It is in this central and ultra-secure area of Mogadishu, at the heart of power, that the jihadist group Chabab managed to infiltrate to storm this hotel and kill nine people.
The attack, which began at 8 p.m. on Sunday November 27, turned into a long bloody closed session lasting about nineteen hours during which the six attackers of Harakat Al-Chabab Al-Mujahedin, the Somalian affiliated terrorist group in Al-Qaida, took control of the establishment before executing eight people there and killing a Somali soldier. They were neutralized at the end of the afternoon, Monday, by the “gashaan” special forces, trained by the United States: “Five were shot and one blew himself up”according to the authorities.
The Minister of Internal Security, Mohamed Sheikh Ali, present in the hotel, was injured, while two other ministers, surprised during their prayer, managed to escape, as did sixty other people. These government officials are prime targets for the Al-Shabaab.
Complicity
After the shock of the attack, this attack constitutes a terrible humiliation for the President, Hassan Cheikh Mohamoud, who was a few hundred meters away at the time of the attack and who would have been escorted under protection in the green zone of the Mogadishu International Airport for its safety.
Not only is Somalia stricken to the core by an enemy against whom it claims to be waging a “total war”, but it is now clear that the jihadists have benefited from complicity in reaching this perimeter criss-crossed by checkpoints and filtering barriers, usually inaccessible for the inhabitants of the city. The terrorists managed to pass several checks without being worried, like the deadliest attack to have taken place on African soil: 587 victims following the explosion of a truck bomb, in Mogadishu, the October 14, 2017.
“By the grace of God, our mujahideen forces, who carried out the attack, passed through all the roadblocks that the enemy placed on our way in Mogadishu”said the jihadist group during the siege of the hotel, in a press release where it also specifies that it used mortars.
Increase in violent actions
This new blow by the Al-Shabaab weakens Hassan Cheikh. Elected in May, the one who has already held this position, between 2012 and 2017, is playing his second term in the war waged against terrorists. A triple war: military, financial and religious. However, this attack is both a reminder of the permanent threat posed by the insurgents and the porosity of the Somali security forces.
This Monday, November 28 was to be a day of celebration for the Head of State. He hosted with great fanfare the first International Conference for Investment in Somalia, bringing together diplomats and businessmen. Hassan Cheikh held his speech there to save appearances, at the very time when the siege of the hotel continued, under the windows of the buildings of the presidency.
Since August, the operations of the Somali army have made it possible to regain control of around fifty villages from the jihadists who still have control over the countryside in the south and north of the country. Beyond territorial gains, the president has rallied support from religious leaders and clan leaders.
But, in difficulty on the military level, the jihadists are now increasing their violent actions. They strike regularly in several provinces, sometimes targeting hotels, sometimes places of power. Nearly a month ago, a double car bomb attack killed more than a hundred people in front of the Ministry of Education, again in the center of Mogadishu.