27 March 2015, Somalia

On Friday, 27 March 2015, al Shabaab conducted a raid on the Makka al-Mukarama hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia. The attack began late Friday afternoon with a Vehicle Borne Improvised Explosive Device (VBIED) at the hotel’s front gate – reportedly in a Toyota Noa, which is a minivan. With the gate blown in, a squad-sized formation of five al Shabaab fighters then ran into the compound and assaulted the hotel, methodically sweeping floor by floor, gunning down civilians as they went. An al Shabaab fighter reportedly detonated his explosives in the hotel lobby as well. Post attack reporting says the attacks killed 20 and wounded 28. Somali forces from the unit, “Gaashaan” (Shield), reportedly retook the hotel, which was officially cleared by Saturday morning. Unconfirmed reporting said the militants beheaded some of their victims. The hotel was popular with Somalia government personnel and expatriates and had been attacked several times before.