by DAVID AXE
A suicide bomber struck the Shamo Hotel in Mogadishu today, during a graduation ceremony for a Somali university. At least 19 people died, including three government ministers, several doctors and two reporters. One of the reporters was from Radio Shabelle, an outfit that earlier this year saw its director killed and a senior producer wounded in a shooting assassination. The male bomber, apparently a member of the Al-Shabab extremists group, reportedly slipped through security by dressing as a woman.
Reports indicate the death toll could rise to 60. In addition to those killed, five journalists were wounded. I’ve emailed my friend and regular WIB contributor Mohamed Omar Hussein, a Mogadishu reporter, to make sure he’s okay. No word yet.
I stayed at the Shamo when I reported from Somalia in 2007. Six months after I left, two foreign freelance journalists, Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan, arrived at the Shamo for their own reporting gigs. The hotel’s security guards — also members of the army — allegedly sold out Lindhout and Brennan. During a foray to a refugee camp, the guards handed the reporters over to a criminal gang with possible ties to Al Shabab. Lindhout and Brennan were freed last month after a ransom was paid.
The handful of international hotels in Mogadishu serve as anchors for faltering attempts to import stability and governance into one of the world’s most troubled countries. But as events have proved, time and again, these hotels, especially the Shamo, are also targets.
(Photo: Christian Science Monitor)
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[...] Our man in Mogadishu was at the Shamo Hotel, covering a graduation ceremony for medical students, pictured, when a suicide bomber dressed as a woman sneaked in and blew himself up, killing potentially scores of people, including several government ministers and two journalists. [...]