June 2016 Mogadishu attacks

The June 2016 Mogadishu attacks were two similar attacks on hotels that occurred in Mogadishu, Somalia on 1 June and 25 June 2016. Dozens of people were killed in the attacks and many more were wounded.

The Ambassador Hotel was targeted on 1 June, and the Hotel Naso-Hablod on 25 June.

1 June attack

The attack came shortly after Somali officials announced that they had killed senior Al-Shabaab member Mohamed Kuno, who is believed to have been the mastermind behind the Garissa University attack. 16 other militants were killed along with Kuno.^[2]

The attack involved at least three attackers, one of whom was killed detonating the car bomb and the other two died after being shot by police inside the hotel.^[3] Most of the victims were pedestrians and drivers on the road on which the car bomb exploded.^[4] Also among the deceased victims included two Somali MPs: Abdullahi Jama Kabaweyne and Mohamoud Mohamed Gure.^[5]

The attack is one in a long list of hotel attacks committed by al-Shabaab in Mogadishu since 2015.

The attack occurred shortly before Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan was supposed to arrive in a hotel along the same road as the Hotel Ambassador.^[6]

25 June attack

On 25 June 2016, Al-Shabaab conducted a similar attack on another hotel in Mogadishu. A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb outside the hotel, after which gunmen stormed the hotel and took hostages before being killed in a shootout with police. At least 15 people were killed, including State Environment Minister Bur’i Mohamed Hamza, and more than 25 were injured.^[7]

The hotel attacked was the Naso-Hablod hotel, which is frequented by tourists and politicians. At least four men were involved in the attack.^[8] The victims were mostly civilians on the street where the car bomb exploded,^[7] but also included some of the hotel's security guards.^[8]

30 June attack

On 30 June 2016, at least 20 civilians were killed when a roadside bomb went off in Lafoole town, southwest of Mogadishu, blowing up a packed mini-bus that was passing by. Although no group claim responsibility, Al-Shabaab is suspected.^[9]

See also

• 2015 Central Hotel attack
• Makka al-Mukarama hotel attack
• 2015 Jazeera Palace Hotel attack
• January 2016 Mogadishu attack
• February 2016 Mogadishu attack

References