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Wednesday, August 25, 2010     INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING

Al Qaida ambush at Mogadishu hotel kills 33, including Somali officials

CAIRO — Al Qaida has conducted what officials termed a strategic strike in Somalia.

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Al Qaida attacked a Mogadishu hotel that contained senior officials and parliamentarians. At least 33 people, including six members of parliament, were killed in what was described as a suicide attack in the Somali capital.

"Thirty people died in this ambush," Somali Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Rahman Ibbi said. "Six of them are members of the Somali parliament and four are Somali government civil servants."

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[On Aug. 25, Al Qaida attacked an army barrack in the North African state of Mauritania. Officials said an AQIM operative was shot before he managed to ram a truck full of explosives into the military facility.]

The attackers were identified as members of the Al Qaida-aligned Al Shebab movement, which contains numerous foreign fighters. In 2010, Al Shebab intensified its offensive against the pro-Western Transitional Federal Government in Mogadishu.

Officials said Al Qaida fighters had been dressed in police uniforms as they entered the Hotel Mona. The fighters were said to have opened fire toward guests in their rooms, most of them Somali officials, and blew themselves up to avoid capture.

"They have no motive other than to terrorize the Somali people," Information Minister Abu Al Rahman Yarisow said. "This is a deplorable act in this holy month of Ramadan. It shows their brutality and lack of respect for humanity."

Hours before the attack, Al Shebab launched an offensive throughout Mogadishu in which dozens of people were killed. Diplomats said Western-trained and -equipped Somali forces were unable to stop Al Shebab, which has already captured large parts of central and southern Somalia.

"This operation is meant to eliminate the invading Christians and their apostate government in Somalia," Al Shebab spokesman Ali Rage said. "The fighting will continue and, God willing, the holy warriors will prevail."

The African Union has deployed more than 6,300 troops in Mogadishu to protect the government. The AU has pledged to send another 4,000 troops to Somalia.

"It is unfortunate that those opposed to the peace process continue to kill innocent civilians even during the fasting month of Ramadan which is one of the key pillars of the Islamic faith which they claim to profess," the AU said.



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