Last weekend, militants attacked the Afrik Hotel in Mogadishu, a well-known hub
for Somali politicians and law enforcement officials. The extremist gr


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Al-Shabaab Militants Stage Attack In Somali Capital Ahead Of National Elections

(New York, N.Y.) – Last weekend, militants attacked
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the Afrik Hotel in Mogadishu, a well-known hub for Somali politicians and law
enforcement officials. The extremist group al-Shabaab—which is linked to
al-Qaeda—claimed responsibility for the attack, which left at least ninedead
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and more than 15 others injured. The incident comes less than two weeks before
the nation’s parliamentary and presidential elections which are expected to be
held on February 8, and only a couple of weeks after the U.S.withdrew
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nearly 700 troops from Somalia.

 

This latest attack, which included a suicide car bombing and an exchange of
gunfire between al-Shabaab militants and Somali security forces, follows a
landmine explosion
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that occurred on January 19 in Mogadishu. In January 2021 alone, al-Shabaabhas
carried out <[link removed]> at least eight
bombings, intensifying international concerns that the group is seeking to take
advantage of the security vacuum that exists in the absence of U.S. troops.

 

Al-Shabaab has been waging a violent insurgency across Somalia, seeking to
unseat the internationally backed government in Mogadishu. The group has a
history of ramping up the intensity of its attacks in an effort to jeopardize
the safety of elections. In December 2016, a suicide truck bomber drove into
Somalia’s largest port in Mogadishu and detonated his explosives, killing 29
people and wounding 48 more. Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack,
saying that it sought to disrupt the country’s parliamentary elections
scheduled for the end of that month. Al-Shabaab’s military operations spokesman
Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musabclaimed
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the targets of the attack were police officers stationed at the port “because
[the officers] had been trained to provide security at [the] so-called
elections.” Previously, al-Shabaab has accused presidential and parliamentary
candidates in Somalia of being puppets of Western powers.

 

To read CEP’s Somalia resource, please click here
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To read CEP’s Al-Shabaab resource, please click here
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