On 11 March 2025, six Al-Shabaab militants detonated a powerful suicide car bomb at the Cairo Hotel in central Beledweyne, Hiran, Somalia. The assault began with an explosion, followed by intense gunfire as attackers stormed the hotel and clashed with security forces.^[6][7] At least 17 people were killed, including all attackers and two traditional elders, and dozens were injured.^[8] The death toll is expected to rise due to the severity of the incident.^[9][10] The hotel hosted traditional elders and military officers coordinating government reports.^[11]

Al-Shabaab, a Jihadist militant group allegiant to Al-Qaeda, has waged an insurgency for over a decade and continues to control parts of southern and central Somalia.

The Cairo Hotel is a prominent location in the city of Beledweyne that serves as a base for traditional elders and military officers who play a vital role in coordinating government offensives against Al-Shabaab militants. The hotel was significantly damaged by smoke and flames during the attack.^[8]

On 20 February 2025, Al-Shabaab started a new offensive (Called "Operation Ramadan")^[12] against the Somali National Army (SNA), African Union Stabilization Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) forces, and allied clan militias (Somali: Macawiisleey), in Hirshabelle State.^[13][12] The militant group's objective is to regain territory lost in the 2022 federal government and African Union ground offensive, particularly strategic towns and supply routes, and to take control of Somalia's capital Mogadishu.^[12][14]

On the first day, the militant group took over more than 15 towns and villages in the Middle Shabelle, Hiran, and Lower Shabelle regions. In the next days, the state capital Jowhar was surrounded by Al-Shabaab fighters. The president Ali Guudlaawe fled the administrative capital. Opposition media compared the president's flight to the Afghan president Ashraf Ghani's one when the Talibans took Kabul.^[12]

On 4 March 2025, the U.S. Embassy in Mogadishu warned of imminent attack threats from Al-Shabaab in Mogadishu, including at Aden Adde International Airport.^[15] Following this security warning, Turkish Airlines and Qatar Airways halted all flights to Mogadishu.^[16] Embassy personnel movements were suspended. The embassy also warned that militant groups continue to plan kidnappings, bombings, and other attacks across the country.^{[17] [18]}

On Tuesday 11 March 2024, at around 7:00 a.m. (EAT),^[19] six militants from Al-Shabaab attacked Cairo Hotel (Somali: Qaahira Hotel) in the central of the administrative capital Hiiraan, Beledweyne, as politicians, security officials and traditional elders were meeting to discuss plans for an offensive against al-Shabab in central Somalia.^[20]

The attack began with the detonation of a car bomb, followed by gunmen storming the hotel, where local elders and government officials were meeting. Initially at least five people were killed and five others were injured.^[21][22] A clan member initally claimed there was seven killed but later a person claimed he knew eleven were dead.^[23] Al-Shabaab claimed they killed 20 people, including government officials and leaders of a pro-government clan militia.^[24] Somali security forces, supported by Djiboutian and Ethiopian troops under the African Union Mission AUSSOM, surrounded the hotel. Later reports confirmed ten civilian deaths, with the toll expected to climb.^[25] Six Al-Shabaab militants involved in the attack and government soldiers who responded were also killed.^[2][26][27]

Former President of Somalia, Sharif Sheikh Ahmed posted on his social media account, saying, "I strongly condemn the barbaric attack carried out this morning by the Al-Shabaab terrorist group in Beledweyne, the capital of Hiiran region."^[28] His successor former president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed relessed statement, stating, "I share my thoughts and condolences with the families and relatives of the civilians who killed in the brutal terrorist attack on the Cairo Hotel in Beledweyne.^[29] Current Somali federal government minister of health, Ali Haji Adam, condemned the incident as “a cowardly terrorist attack” and expressed his condolences.^[30]

4°44′05″N 45°11′51″E / 4.73468°N 45.19762°E / 4.73468; 45.19762