NAIROBI: The chief of the UN health agency revealed on Sunday that a World Health Organisation employee was among those slain during the weekend siege of a beachfront hotel in the capital of Somalia, Mogadishu.
According to authorities, six civilians died during the siege, and another 10 were injured.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director general of WHO, tweeted on Sunday, “I’m heartbroken that we have lost a WHO staff member in the recent attack in #Mogadishu, #Somalia.”
He expressed his sincere sympathies to the families of the deceased and to everyone who had experienced a loss. “We denounce all assaults on civilians and aid workers.”
Since it began fighting the internationally supported federal government of Somalia more than 15 years ago, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab has frequently attacked hotels because they frequently house senior Somali and foreign leaders.
Seven assailants assaulted the Pearl Beach hotel, a popular location at Lido Beach along Mogadishu’s coastline, soon before 8:00 p.m. on Friday (1700 GMT), when the most recent attack, for which Al-Shabaab claimed credit, started.
Police said that it came to an end at approximately 2:00 am following a bloody confrontation between security personnel and the insurgents, all of whom were killed in the conflict.
The incident at Lido Beach highlighted the country’s pervasive security issues as it works to recover from decades of strife and natural catastrophes in the Horn of Africa.
Al-Shabaab, which an African Union army drove out of Somalia’s major towns and cities, nonetheless controls a sizable portion of the countryside and carries out assaults against civilian and security targets, including in the capital.
