Somalia combats another hotel terror siege

Late Sunday, the Villa Rose (or “Rays”) hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu had its regular flow of patrons. The hotel is near Somalia’s presidential palace and is frequented by security and government officials. Minister of State for Environment and Climate Change Adam Aw Hirsi was praying with other worshippers inside the hotel’s mosque when he first heard a “deafening explosion.”

“We had a 120 seconds leeway between the explosion and the terrorist foot soldiers coming,” he told the BBC.

Six insurgents killed eight people in the hotel before security forces ended the siege 21 hours later.

Somalia’s new government is pushing a high-profile offensive against the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab. The group still controls large swaths of central and southern Somalia.

Authorities evacuated about 60 people from the hotel, including some government officials who jumped out of windows. One of the victims was a British national, Birmingham, England, native Mohamed Sayid Hassan Elmi. Security forces confirmed they killed five attackers, while a sixth committed suicide.

In a radio broadcast, al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. The violence this year in Somalia has killed more than 613 civilians and injured nearly a thousand more, according to the United Nations. The UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights said the toll is the highest since 2017 and blamed most of the deaths on al-Shabaab’s improvised explosive devices. Two car bombings last month killed at least 120 people at a busy junction in Mogadishu.

Back in August, a similar hotel siege, also in Mogadishu, left at least 21 people dead and more than 100 injured after a 30-hour standoff. The attack prompted Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s government to launch a “total war” against the insurgent group. A month later, he met with U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and other top U.S. officials seeking more support to tackle al-Shabaab.

A U.S.-funded elite national army unit called Danab, or “lightning” brigade, is pushing back al-Shabaab’s insurgency. A day before Sunday’s siege, Somalia said the army and a local militia killed more than 100 al-Shabaab militants in the country’s lower and middle Shabelle region. Al-Shabaab has opposed Somalia’s federal government since 2017, seeking to impose strict Shariah law.

Caleb Weiss, a research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal, noted that al-Shabaab’s persistent attacks, especially in Mogadishu, point to the group’s status as one of al-Qaeda’s most effective branches. “Though its fortunes have ebbed and flowed over the past decade, it has shown the capacity to weather numerous offensives from an array of local, regional, and international actors, including the United States,” he said.

World Radar

EUROPE: Top European officials have accused the United States of profiting from the war in Ukraine. As European countries attempt to reduce reliance on Russian energy, the price they pay for gas from the United States is almost quadruple the amount it costs stateside, reported Politico. Demand for American-made military equipment will also increase as the European supply dips from providing Ukraine with weapons. Yet, an American official said the price-setting for European buyers of U.S. gas is based on private market decisions, and the difference between export and import prices often goes to companies reselling the gas within the European Union instead of U.S. exporters.

Washington’s Inflation Reduction Act, a $430 billion green energy subsidy package, is another point of contention. European officials worry it will disadvantage European companies. But U.S. President Joe Biden said the act was never intended to come at U.S. allies’ expense.

RUSSIA: More than 3,500 Russian soldiers and their family members have made contact with the Ukrainian government’s “I Want To Live” project. The initiative helps Russian troops surrender to Ukrainian forces by calling a hotline or entering details through messaging apps such as Whatsapp or Telegram. Launched in September, the project receives up to 100 inquiries a day and has recorded an increase in contacts since Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a partial mobilization of Russian civilians. A Ukrainian call handler told the BBC that besides Russians seeking to surrender, she’s also received calls from those aiming to antagonize Ukrainians. Russians who surrender become prisoners of war that Ukraine could use in exchange for Ukrainians held by Russia.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin-backed Wagner mercenary group claimed it recruited a Zambian student who died while fighting alongside Russian troops. Lemekhane Nyireda was serving a nine-year prison sentence on the outskirts of Moscow when Zambia confirmed he died in September. His death fueled reports that Russia was offering freedom to convicts who joined the battle.

SOUTH AFRICA: During Saturday’s service at Johannesburg Central Seventh-day Adventist Church, six men robbed congregants at gunpoint as a church elder was delivering a sermon. A livestream of the service captured the moment when the preacher realized the intrusion. “Thank God no one was hurt, but people were left traumatized,” the church posted on Facebook. Church elders assured members the traumatic experience “will pass” and offered counseling. Police are still on the lookout for the suspects. Last month, five armed men stormed a church in Diepsloot township during a prayer service and opened fire before collecting people’s cash and cellphones. The pastor died and two other congregants sustained injuries.

COMOROS: The State Security Court sentenced former Comorian President Ahmed Abdallah Sambi to life imprisonment on Monday for selling passports to Arabian Gulf residents. The court found the 64-year-old Sambi, who led the small Indian Ocean nation between 2006 and 2011, guilty of high treason. He passed a law in 2008 allowing the costly sale of passports to the so-called Bidoon, an Arab minority numbering in the tens of thousands who cannot obtain citizenship. But according to the public prosecutor, he embezzled $1.8 billion—more than the country’s gross domestic product—under the scheme. Sambi, who is an arch-rival of current President Azali Assoumani, boycotted the hearing, claiming he would not receive a fair trial. He has already spent four years in prison ahead of his sentencing. Comoros is an Islamic-majority archipelago located off Africa’s eastern coast.

KENYA: In solidarity with citizens affected by the worsening drought, all Cabinet members will forgo their salaries for one month to contribute the amount to the country’s relief efforts, Kenya’s Cabinet Office announced on Tuesday. The drought has affected more than 4 million Kenyans, including 640,000 children under the age of 5 who are malnourished, according to a United Nations report. More than 2.4 million livestock have died. Consecutive below-average harvests have also contributed to high staple food prices. Nearly 90 aid groups are participating in Kenya’s drought response.

ISLAMIC STATE: The insurgent group confirmed the death of its leader in a recent battle, a spokesman said in a recording released on Wednesday. Abu al-Hassan al-Hashimi al-Qurayshi is the second Islamic State leader killed this year. The U.S. military Central Command said al-Qurayshi was killed in mid-October in a mission by Syrian rebels in the southern province of Daraa. The group’s spokesperson identified Abu al-Hussein al-Husseini al-Qurayshi, a so-called “veteran” fighter, as the group’s new leader. “Al-Qurayshi” is part of the ISIS leadership’s nom de guerre.

WORLD Asia correspondent Erica Kwong contributed to this report.