MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – At least six people were killed and four others were injured when gunmen from Somalia’s violent Islamic extremist rebels fought their way into a hotel in the Somali capital after a suicide car bomb exploded at its gates, a police officer said Wednesday.
Dozens of people, including lawmakers, were thought to have been staying at Mogadishu’s Dayah hotel at the time of the morning attack, said Capt. Mohamed Hussein. Heavy gunfire could still be heard inside the hotel, he said.
A nearby shopping center caught fire and dozens of people helped save goods in the business premises.
Somalia’s homegrown Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack via its online radio, Andalus, saying its fighters succeeded in entering the hotel and an “operation is ongoing now.”
Al-Shabab frequently targets hotels and other public places often visited by government officials and foreigners. Al-Qaida’s East African affiliate is fighting to impose a strict version of Islam in the Horn of Africa nation.