Intel Chief Abdullahi Mohamed Sanbalolshe and Commander of the Police Abdihakim Saaid sacked after extremist hotel siege killed at least 26 people.
BY VOA NEWS
Somalia’s police commander and intelligence chief have been fired, after a deadly al-Shabab siege of hotel in the capital Mogadishu. Officials say at least 26 people were killed in the attack on the popular Nasa Hablod Two hotel in Mogadishu. Dozens more were injured in the explosion.
Militants stormed the hotel Saturday, following a car bomb blast at the hotel’s gate. Police say they have captured two of the attackers and have killed two more.
The al-Shabab militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack on the hotel.
“In the wake of the attack, the Commander of Somali Police, General Abdihakim Dahir Saaid and Intelligence Chief Abdullahi Mohamed Ali Sanbalolshe have been fired”, Minister of Information Abdirahman Omar Osman announced on his twitter account.
There was a second car bomb blast Saturday near the former parliament building.The extent of the damage from that explosion was not immediately clear.
The twin bombings came exactly two weeks after a huge truck blast killed at least 358 people at a busy Mogadishu intersection.
Somalia’s government blamed the militant al-Shabab group for the Oct. 14 attack, although the militant group has not claimed responsibility.
