- Title: SOMALIA: Gunmen in hotel slaughter
- Date: 25th August 2010
- Summary: SOLDIERS LOADING BODY ONTO TRUCK BODY ON TRUCK SOMALIA GOVERNMENT FORCES AND LOCALS OUTSIDE HOTEL MUNA
- Embargoed: 9th September 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Somalia
- Country: Somalia
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement
- Reuters ID: LVA35MUYL1IMGZYDFJX0R7PFFNJW
- Story Text: (August 24) leaving more than 30 people dead including 15 parliamentarians.
Hardline al Shabaab Islamists linked to al Qaeda have waged a three-year insurgency against the fragile Western-backed government and control most of Mogadishu. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
Muna Hotel is in a government-controlled neighbourhood between the presidential palace and the Indian Ocean and was regarded as one of the safest places in Mogadishu.
Security was tightened around the area as government forces carried dead bodies from the scene.
The brutal assault underscores the failure of the government and more than 6,300 African Union peacekeepers to bring order to Somalia after nearly two decades of anarchy, making it a continual source of instability for east Africa.
The attack came a day after the African Union announced the arrival of hundreds of new peacekeeping troops, mostly Ugandans, for the AMISOM mission to help the government in the battle against al Shabaab.
The peacekeepers have been able to do little more than guard the airport and port and shield president Sheikh Sharif Ahmed.
The insurgents, who control much of the capital and large areas in central and south Somalia, have attracted foreign fighters to the lawless country.
The ever present threat from Somalia to its fast-growing neighbours was highlighted last month by al Shabaab suicide bombings which killed 70 people in Uganda, which provides the bulk of the African Union force. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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