In a televised speech Tuesday night, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced that his government will launch a “total war” against al-Qaida-affiliated militant group al-Shabab, after the group staged a deadly hotel siege in Mogadishu on Friday, killing at least 21 people and wounding more than 100.

Mohamud said that it is time to come together to defeat the enemy and said the military’s recent operations in parts of the country gained significant ground, including in central Galmudug state and Southwest state.

His remarks were made after he met with the country’s security council to discuss the latest attack on Hotel Hayat in the capital. He said that he knows that the Somali people are tired of the endless mourning and that people lose their loved ones in every attack carried out by the terrorists.

He urged people to be prepared for an all-out war against the ruthless terrorists who are hostile to the country’s peace. He added that al-Shabab’s only principle is killing, intimidation, humiliation and carrying out atrocities against the civilians.