Somali president vows ‘total war’ against Shabaab Islamists

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud pledged “total war” to eliminate the radical Islamist Shabab, in his first statement to the country since the bloody attack on a hotel in Mogadishu that left at least 21 people dead and 117 injured on Tuesday.

“I know that the Somali people are tired of condolences and endless mourning, I know that you lose respectable people in every attack carried out by the terrorists,” President Mohamoud said.

“I, therefore, urge you to prepare for an all-out war against these ruthless people who are hostile to our peace,” he said in a statement issued by the presidency.

The attack that took place last weekend was the bloodiest attack in the capital since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamoud was elected in mid-May and the government took office in early August.

The head of state on Tuesday invited the prime minister, the interior minister and the foreign minister, as well as the heads of the country’s security services, to a meeting of the national security committee.

Al-Qaeda-linked radical Islamist Shebab, who has been fighting the Somalia government for 15 years, launched a massive attack on Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu on Friday.

The attack ended on Saturday night with the intervention of security forces.