Al-Shabaab has reportedly claimed responsibility for the assault on the Cairo Hotel, saying it has killed ten people.
Gunmen from the Al-Shabaab terrorist group have stormed a hotel in the city of Beledweyne in central Somalia, where local leaders and government officials were meeting to plan an offensive against the jihadist organization, multiple news agencies have reported.
Reports vary on the death toll from the assault on Tuesday at the Cairo Hotel, although a witness told the Associated Press that three of his family members were among some 11 people he knew were dead. Reuters cited a clan elder, Abdullahi Fidow, as saying that seven people had been killed in the attack.
“The death toll may rise because of the blasts and shooting by the fighters,” he told the news agency.
The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab group has reportedly claimed responsibility for the incident, alleging to have killed more than ten people.
According to local outlet Somali Guardian, the attack began with a car bomb exploding at the entrance of the hotel. Gunmen later entered the building, resulting in violent clashes with security forces.
Videos shared on social media showed thick smoke rising from the facility, which has significant damage to its walls as a result of the bombing.
Al-Shabaab gunmen remain barricaded inside a hotel in #Somalia’s Baladweyne town after launching a deadly attack early Tuesday, as Somali security forces, supported by peacekeepers from #Djibouti and #Ethiopia, continue efforts to end the siege now stretching beyond 10 hours. pic.twitter.com/9zXwySqR3a
— Somali Guardian (@SomaliGuardian) March 11, 2025
On Wednesday, Universal Somali TV reported that the siege on the facility had ended after more than 24 hours of intense fighting between militants and the East African country’s troops, as well as Ethiopian and Djiboutian allies.
Al-Shabaab remains the dominant terrorist organization in Somalia, frequently carrying out explosives and gun attacks on civilians and military infrastructure in an attempt to destabilize the government and establish its own rule. The group was driven out of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, in 2011 by an African Union peacekeeping force, but it still controls some areas in the southern and central regions of the country.
Last August, over 30 people were killed in a terrorist attack on Lido Beach in Mogadishu. Four gunmen reportedly targeted the seaside spot with indiscriminate shooting, while a suicide bomber detonated an explosive device. In October 2022, Al-Shabaab carried out twin car bombings in Mogadishu, killing more than 100 people and injuring 300.
Last month, US President Donald Trump ordered precision airstrikes in Somalia’s Bari region targeting an unnamed senior Islamic State attack planner and other militants. The offensive reportedly destroyed terrorist hideouts and killed several militants.
This is why a population needs to be armed…in order to repel such murderous parasitic primates!
Imagine this coming to a neighbourhood near you…!
It’s what happens with unchecked migration & immigration…
How will you defend yourself and your family & property from armed thuggery such as this when NZ has such stifling Firearms Laws that actually violate the U.N. Right to Self-Defence under Chapter 7, Article 51?
The politicians are on notice that they will repeal Jabby’s knee-jerk reactive Firearms Law(s) if they are to be re-(s)elected, and both Winston and Nicole will need lead this effort and establish the repeals BEFORE the next (s)election!
Switzerland, the U.S., and several other nations have their populations enshrined in Citizen Militias in the event of war or national emergencies.
The same needs to happen here, alongside Armed Neutrality for New Zealand!