At least five civilians have been killed and several others have been injured in simultaneous gun-and-bomb attacks on two hotels in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, security sources said Friday.
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No casualties have been confirmed by far, while an unknown number of people remain trapped inside the building amid sporadic exchanges of gunfire, police officer Ahmed Shire told Xinhua.
Both hotels are fortified and popular with government workers, including lawmakers from the parliament nearby.
Police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said that Somalia’s security forces intervened shortly after the assault began, engaging in a firefight with the gunmen.
Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack on the Wehliya Hotel and said it had also laid siege to another hotel in the city, the Siyad, where gunfire continued into the night near the presidential palace. The operation here is finished.
In another attack, a blast was heard in hotel Siyaad which is closely located to the Presidential palace.
An AFP reporter saw at least two bodies outside the Weheliye hotel, where a vehicle bomb had rammed the front gate.
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The attacks started with suicide vehicle bombings before gunmen fought their way inside the hotels, said Hassan Ali, a police commander in Mogadishu. The AU is helping the government battle al Shabaab, which is part of al Qaeda.
