Asasey Hotel attack

On 12 July 2019, the Asasey Hotel in Kismayo, in the Jubaland region of Somalia, was attacked by al-Shabaab militants. Four al-Shabaab gunmen assaulted the hotel after another attacker breached the hotel gate using a car bomb. The combined assault—vehicle-borne explosive followed by armed gunmen entering the compound—resulted in 26 people being killed.

The attack occurred amid a broader pattern of al-Shabaab violence across Somalia and the wider region during 2019, including multiple bombings and armed assaults claimed by the group in Mogadishu, Nairobi, and elsewhere throughout the year. The Kismayo hotel attack fits within this pattern of coordinated bombings and armed sieges targeting hotels, government buildings, and security checkpoints.