Somali president defiant after Shabab bomb diplomats’ hotel

MOGADISHU — Somalia’s president on Monday gave a defiant warning to Shabab insurgents a day after they killed at least 13 people in a bomb attack on a hotel that houses several diplomatic missions. The suicide vehicle attack, the latest in a string of bomb blasts and killings in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation, came as US President Barack Obama left neighbouring Kenya and headed to Ethiopia, both key nations contributing troops to the African Union force battling the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shabab. The White House strongly condemned Sunday’s “abhorrent” attack. “The devastation was huge, and so far 13 people, all of them innocent civilians, have been confirmed dead,” Somali government security officer Ahmed Ali said. “Some of the wounded died last night, while other bodies were recovered under the wreckage of nearby buildings.” Initial reports had put the death toll at six. The Jazeera Palace hotel is home to the diplomatic missions of China, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and is popular among Somali government officials and foreign visitors. Beijing said on Monday one of its embassy staff was killed and three others slightly wounded. AU troops helped rescue survivors, including Kenya’s ambassador to Somalia, spokesman Paddy Ankunda said. The hotel has also been the target of Shabab attacks in the past, including in 2012 when suicide bombers stormed the hotel while President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was inside. Mohamud condemned Sunday’s bombing. “This was an attack on a symbol — the Jazeera Hotel was a place where the international community met their counterparts in Somali politics, business and civil society,” he said in a statement on Monday. “But I have a message for the terrorists: the Jazeera Palace will be rebuilt and it will soon be back in business. That is how we respond to callous attacks such as this — attacks that, as is so often the case, harm only innocent Somali citizens and our international colleagues who are here to help.” — AFP