Somalia’s President Escapes Death as Mogadishu Gets Bombed Again

Somalia President, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed on Saturday escaped death after a hotel where he was scheduled to hold a political meeting was attacked by the al-Shabab terrorist group.

A car packed with explosives blew up outside the hotel simultaneously as a minibus also exploded at a nearby junction.

A third blast occurred when an attacker detonated a suicide vest.

About 18 people were killed and more than 30 wounded as the Islamic militants attacked the hotel close to the presidential palace in Mogadishu as two suicide bombers detonated two car bombs outside the entrance.

More than 20 people, including government officials, are believed to be trapped as security forces battled extremists holed up on the top floor of the hotel. Two of the five attackers were killed on the first floor, Hussein said. The others hurled grenades and cut off the building’s electricity as night fell.

The blasts occurred just two weeks after a huge truck bombing in the Somali capital which killed at least 358 people, making it the deadliest attack in the country’s history.