2009 Hotel Shamo bombing
2009 Hotel Shamo bombing | |
---|---|
Location | Mogadishu, Somalia |
Date | 3 December 2009 |
Attack type | Suicide bombing |
Deaths | 25 |
Injured | 60 |
The 2009 Hotel Shamo bombing was a
The bombing
The hall had been brightly decorated, and there was a feeling of excitement – such ceremonies rarely happen in Mogadishu.[4]
Mohammed Olad Hassan, BBC News
The attack took place inside the meeting hall of the Hotel Shamo in Mogadishu during a
The ceremony—the second since Benadir University was formed in 2002 and a rare event in war-torn Somalia—had attracted hundreds of people.
Casualties
Suddenly, the hall shook and I heard a PAW! sound from the front of the ceremony, where most government officials and dignitaries were sitting. I got down on the ground and looked back. Dozens of people were on the ground under a huge cloud of smoke. Others were stampeding to the exit for safety.[9]
Abdinasir Mohamed, The Wall Street Journal
The bombing killed 24 people
The three journalists killed in the bombing were: Mohamed Amiin Abdullah of
The dean of Benadir University's medical college was among the wounded.[8]
Aftermath
No one immediately claimed responsibility for orchestrating the bombing,
In a
According to Idd Mohamed, a senior Somali
Reactions
The attack drew condemnation from a number of organisations, including the African Union (AU), the European Union, the United Nations Security Council, and the National Union of Somali Journalists.[5][7]
AMISOM described the bombing as "inhumane and cowardly",[5] and characterised it as a "heinous [crime] against humanity".[7] AMISOM also promised to "spare no efforts" to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the attack,[7] and stated that the attack would not deter the AU from continuing to carry out its mission in Somalia.[2]
Baroness
The UN Security Council president Michel Kafando labelled the attack an act of terrorism[7] and a "criminal act",[6] called for a "thorough investigation", and conveyed "sympathies and condolences" to the victims of the attack, their families, the TFG, and the Somali people.[7]
A joint statement by the UN, the EU, the Arab League and the United States affirmed that the international community would continue its support of the Transitional Federal Government;[5] however, a senior European diplomat indicated that any additional military support to the TFG was unlikely.[6]
President Ahmed characterised the attack as a "national disaster".[2]
The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement expressing condolences to the families of the three journalists killed in the bombing and noted that the attack "cemented" Somalia's "position as the deadliest country in Africa for journalists".[10]
See also
- 2009 Beledweyne bombing
- List of journalists killed during the Somali civil war
- List of terrorist incidents, 2009
- Somali Civil War (2009–present)
References
- ^ a b "4th minister dies of wounds". The Straits Times. 6 December 2009. Retrieved 6 December 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f "Somalia al-Shabab Islamists deny causing deadly bomb". BBC News. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ Guled, Abdi; Ibrahim Mohamed (4 December 2009). "Bomber kills 19 in Somalia". National Post. Retrieved 4 December 2009.[permanent dead link]
- ^ Hassan, Mohammed Olad (3 December 2009). "Somalia bomb attack: 'Light turned to dark'". BBC News. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Somalia ministers killed by hotel suicide bomb". BBC News. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f McCrummen, Stephanie (4 December 2009). "Bombing kills 19 in Somali capital". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Blast kills 19 at graduation ceremony in Somalia". CNN. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ RTÉ News and Current Affairs. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ Mohamed, Abdinasir (4 December 2009). "I Looked to My Right and Saw a Colleague Dead and Bleeding". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Explosion kills three Somali journalists in Mogadishu". Committee to Protect Journalists. 3 December 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2009.
- ^ Somalia: Patients flown to Saudi Arabia
- ^ "Humanitarian | Thomson Reuters Foundation News".
- ^ Somalia suicide bomber from Denmark Archived 12 December 2009 at the Wayback Machine The Copenhagen Post.