An employee of theWorld Health Organization (WHO) was killed in the attack on the night of Friday to Saturday of a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu by radical Islamists Shebab, lamented Sunday Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of the WHO.
On Friday evening, a commando of seven Islamist fighters stormed the Pearl Beach hotel on the Mogadishu seafront. According to the Somali police, six civilians were killed and ten injured during the six-hour siege. Three law enforcement officers also died in the attack.
Fifteen years of insurgencies against the government
“I am heartbroken after the loss of a WHO employee in the recent attack in Mogadishu,” wrote in a tweet. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesusconcluding: “We condemn all attacks against civilians and humanitarian workers”.
Al-Shabaab, who claimed responsibility for the attack by saying they were targeting a place frequented by the authorities, have waged an insurgency against the federal government supported by the international community for more than fifteen years and have often targeted hotels that usually host senior officials. Somalis and foreigners.
Driven out of the main cities of the country in 2011-2012, they remain firmly established in vast rural areas.
2022, an already particularly deadly year
Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud declared “total war” on them and launched a military offensive against them in September, notably supported by American airstrikes. But the Shebab continue to carry out bloody attacks in retaliation, underlining their ability to strike at the heart of Somali cities and military installations.
In a report to the UN Security Council in February, the Organization’s Secretary-General Antonio Guterres claimed that 2022 had been the deadliest year for civilians in Somalia since 2017, largely due to attacks Shebabs.