2009 Hotel Shamo bombing

Suicide terror attack in Mogadishu, Somalia November 2020 2009 Hotel Shamo bombing LocationSomalia.svg Location of Somalia in Africa Mogadishu, Somalia 2.0309 45.3039 type:event_region:SO-BN title,inline 3 December 2009 Suicide bombing 25 60 The 2009 Hotel Shamo bombing occurred at the Hotel Shamo in Mogadishu, Somalia, on 3 December 2009. The suicide bombing killed 25 people, including three ministers of the Transitional Federal Government,4th minister dies of wounds http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Sport/Story/STIStory_463152.html 6 December 2009 The Straits Times 6 December 2009 and injured 60 more,Somalia al-Shabab Islamists deny causing deadly bomb https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8394528.stm 4 December 2009 BBC News 4 December 2009 making it the deadliest attack in Somalia since the Beledweyne bombing on 18 June 2009 that claimed more than 30 lives.Guled, Abdi Ibrahim Mohamed Bomber kills 19 in Somalia https://nationalpost.com/news/world/story.html?id=2301825 4 December 2009 National Post 4 December 2009 October 2025 medicmedic The bombing The hall had been brightly decorated, and there was a feeling of excitement – such ceremonies rarely happen in Mogadishu.Mohammed Olad Hassan Somalia bomb attack: 'Light turned to dark' https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8393792.stm 3 December 2009 BBC News 4 December 2009 Mohammed Olad Hassan, BBC News 35% left Somalia Mogadishu Location of Mogadishu in Somalia Green pog.svg 2 4 45 22 right 150 right Mogadishu in Somalia The attack took place inside the meeting hall of the Hotel Shamo in Mogadishu during a commencement ceremony for medical students of Benadir University and was carried out by a suicide bomber standing near the front of the stage. The ceremony—the second since Benadir University was formed in 2002 and a rare event in war-torn Somalia—had attracted hundreds of people.3 December 2009 Somalia ministers killed by hotel suicide bomb https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8392468.stm BBC News 4 December 2009 In attendance were the graduates and their family members, University officials, and five ministers of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). Security inside the meeting hall was light and all of the ministers' bodyguards were outside the hall. 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.Abdinasir Mohamed I Looked to My Right and Saw a Colleague Dead and Bleeding https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125987377653875293 4 December 2009 The Wall Street Journal 4 December 2009 Abdinasir Mohamed, The Wall Street Journal 55% right The bombing killed 24 people and injured 60 others. Most of those killed were students, but also among the dead were two doctors, three journalists,Explosion kills three Somali journalists in Mogadishu http://cpj.org/2009/12/explosion-kills-three-somali-journalists-in-mogadi.php 3 December 2009 Committee to Protect Journalists 4 December 2009 and three government ministers—Minister of Education Ahmed Abdulahi Waayeel, Minister of Health Qamar Aden Ali, and Minister of Higher Education Ibrahim Hassan Addow were killed.Blast kills 19 at graduation ceremony in Somalia http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/africa/12/03/somalia.attacks/index.html?eref=onion 3 December 2009 CNN 4 December 2009 Minister of Sports Saleban Olad Roble was critically injured, and was hospitalised. He was later reported to have been flown to Saudi Arabia for treatment,http://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=14596&tirsan=3 Somalia: Patients flown to Saudi Arabia 17 December 2009 8 November 2022 https://web.archive.org/web/20221108192831/https://www.mareeg.com/fidsan.php?sid=14596&tirsan=3 dead where he died on 13 February 2010.http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE61C02G.htm Humanitarian | Thomson Reuters Foundation News The three journalists killed in the bombing were: Mohamed Amiin Abdullah of Shabelle Media Network, a Somali television and radio network; freelance photographer Yasir Mairo, who died of injuries in hospital; and a cameraman alternately identified as freelancer Hassan Ahmed Hagi and Al Arabiya cameraman Hassan Zubeyr or Hasan al-Zubair. Their deaths raised to nine the number of journalists killed in Somalia during 2009, including four for Radio Shabelle. The explosion also injured six other journalists, including two—Omar Faruk, a photographer for Reuters, and Universal TV reporter Abdulkadir Omar Abdulle—who were taken to Medina Hospital in critical condition. The dean of Benadir University's medical college was among the wounded.Govt ministers killed in Somalia blast http://www.rte.ie/news/2009/1203/somalia.html 3 December 2009 RTÉ News and Current Affairs 4 December 2009 Perpetrator The Danish newspaper Berlingske Tidende reported the bomber was a 24-year-old citizen of Denmark. The Danish intelligence service, the PET, said in a statement that the man was born in Somalia and had been living in Denmark for 20 years. The police chose not to release the name of the suspect, however, a documentary released in 2014 names him as "Abdirahman Mohamed", with one of his friend's giving details regarding his radicalisation.Jespersen Søren Steen Farah Nasib Faber Helle Christiansen Kim Payne-Frank Noah Phillips Charlie Riddell Juliet theguardian.com 2015-02-23 My friend the suicide bomber: meet the men recruited to kill – video https://www.theguardian.com/news/video/2015/feb/16/my-friend-the-suicide-bomber-al-shabaab-recruit-video 2024-07-09 The Guardian en-GB 0261-3077 Initially, reports suggested that the bomber had entered the building dressed as a woman in an abaya. During a news conference held in the Hotel Shamo after the attack, President Ahmed called for international assistance to Somalia. He also displayed, according to a local journalist, what he identified as the bomber's body and remains of an explosive belt and a hijab. However, he was later found to have been in a white shirt, standing near the stage, with a camera.Jespersen Søren Steen Farah Nasib Faber Helle Christiansen Kim Payne-Frank Noah Phillips Charlie Riddell Juliet theguardian.com 2015-02-23 My friend the suicide bomber: meet the men recruited to kill – video https://www.theguardian.com/news/video/2015/feb/16/my-friend-the-suicide-bomber-al-shabaab-recruit-video 2024-07-09 The Guardian en-GB 0261-3077 Aftermath thumb|right|President Sharif Sheikh Ahmed accused the Islamist group al-Shabaab of perpetrating the attack. No one immediately claimed responsibility for orchestrating the bombing, but Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the President of Somalia, blamed the Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab.Somalia suicide bomber from Denmark https://web.archive.org/web/20091212155657/http://www.cphpost.dk/news/national/88-national/47713-somalia-suicide-bomber-from-denmark.html 12 December 2009 The Copenhagen Post. According to Idd Mohamed, a senior Somali diplomat, the attack was carried out to foster "terror" and "panic" and undermine the legitimacy of the Transitional Federal Government. Wafula Wamunyini, the acting head of the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), expressed a similar opinion, claiming that the attack had the purpose of "intimidat[ing] and blackmail[ing]" the Somali government. Stephanie McCrummen of The Washington Post described the attack as "the worst blow in months" to the United Nations-supported government of Somalia.Stephanie McCrummen Bombing kills 19 in Somali capital https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/03/AR2009120300544.html?hpid=sec-world 4 December 2009 The Washington Post 4 December 2009 Reactions The attack drew condemnation from a number of organisations, including the African Union (AU), the European Union, the Arab League, the United Nations Security Council, and the National Union of Somali Journalists.Rice Xan 2009-12-03 Suicide bomber kills three Somali cabinet ministers https://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/dec/03/somali-bomb-kills-cabinet-ministers 2026-01-06 The Guardian en-GB 0261-3077 AMISOM described the bombing as "inhumane and cowardly", and characterised it as a "heinous [crime] against humanity". AMISOM also promised to "spare no efforts" to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators of the attack, and stated that the attack would not deter the AU from continuing to carry out its mission in Somalia. Baroness Catherine Ashton, the High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy for the European Union (EU), echoed AMISOM's sentiment, calling the bombing a "cowardly attack against civilians including students, doctors and journalists". The UN Security Council president Michel Kafando labelled the attack an act of terrorism and a "criminal act", called for a "thorough investigation", and conveyed "sympathies and condolences" to the victims of the attack, their families, the TFG, and the Somali people. 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; however, a senior European diplomat indicated that any additional military support to the TFG was unlikely. President Ahmed characterised the attack as a "national disaster". 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". 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 External links At least fifteen killed after suicide bombing in Somali hotel In pictures: Mogadishu blast, BBC News Somalia bomb attack: 'Light turned to dark', BBC News "I Looked to My Right and Saw a Colleague Dead and Bleeding", The Wall Street Journal Category:Suicide bombings in 2009 Category:Somali Civil War (2009–present) Category:2009 mass murders Category:Terrorist incidents in Somalia in 2009 Category:Suicide bombings in Mogadishu Category:2000s crimes in Mogadishu Category:Hotel bombings in Somalia Category:December 2009 in Africa Category:21st-century mass murders in Somalia Category:Building bombings in Mogadishu Category:2009 building bombings Category:Mass murders in Mogadishu Category:2009 murders in Somalia