SYL Hotel Siege Unveils Al-Shabab’s Infiltration in Mogadishu
The Somali DigestMar 15
Somalia: SYL Hotel Siege Ends, All Militants Killed
The Facts
Somali security forces on Friday killed the al-Shabab gunmen who seized a popular SYL Hotel located near the presidential palace in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, for 13 hours.
All five militants were killed, along with three government soldiers. During the siege that began Thursday evening, 27 people were also injured, mostly civilians.
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
This latest assault in a highly secured area in Mogadishu further indicates that al-Shabab has infiltrated the Somali state machinery, something that has been feared since an insider attack in Camp Gordon. Somalia must urgently review its security protocols and processes, and the international community must boost its support for the country to defeat terrorism.
Establishment-critical narrative
Before the 2006 US and UK-backed Ethiopian invasion of Somalia that sent the country into a death spiral, al-Shabab was a non-violent political party. In pursuit of global military expansion, the West — with Pres. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud as its proxy — has yet again helped cause the problems it's now trying to "fix." The last thing needed is more Western meddling.
Nerd narrative
There's a 50% chance that at least 25K deaths will be caused by terrorism globally in 2025, according to the Metaculus prediction community.