On Tuesday, a car bomb exploded at the Cairo Hotel in Beledweyne, Somalia, initiating an hours-long assault by militants that led to an unspecified number of deaths. The hotel, serving as a hub for traditional elders and military officers coordinating the government’s offensive against the al-Qaida-affiliated group al-Shabab, suffered significant damage. Witness accounts report varying death tolls, with figures ranging from six to eleven, including traditional elders and military personnel. Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack, underscoring the group’s ongoing threat to Somalia’s federal government despite continued military efforts to suppress them.