MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Earlier in the day, suicide bombers attacked the Ambassador hotel, taking several people hostage. In response to the attack, Somali security forces launched an operation to rescue the hotel residents.
Medical personnel at a Mogadishu hospital is fighting for the lives of 50 people who were injured in the attack, the Somali National News Agency reported.
Somalia has been mired in an armed conflict with Islamist militants for two decades. The country’s government relies heavily on the African Union’s peacekeepers for protection.
Somalia’s collapse has provided a breeding ground for warlords, pirates and the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Shabaab terrorists. The group has been staging numerous attacks in Somalia in an attempt to create an Islamic state ruled by Sharia law.