Police said the attack on the Nasa-Hablod hotel began when a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at its gate.
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Captain Mohamed Hussein says the attackers are throwing grenades and using machine guns to resist security forces who are trying to reach them on the second floor. “Now they are inside and the heavy exchange of gunfire continues”, local police spokesperson Maj Nur Farah confirmed.
He said Nasahablood hotel had been targeted. ‘It is too early to give details, ‘ he added. The Somalia-based, al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab extremist group has been waging a deadly insurgency across large parts of Somalia and often employs suicide vehicle bomb attacks to penetrate heavily fortified targets in Mogadishu and elsewhere.
Shabaab gunmen besieged the Ambassador hotel for more than 12 hours.
The latest attack comes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, during which extremists often step up attacks in this volatile East African country.
An explosion has occurred in front of a hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Saturday afternoon.
The group has used the tactic before in several assaults, including an attack at the Sahafi Hotel in the capital past year that left 15 people dead. Three attackers were also killed.
The UN refugee agency however has called on Kenya to ensure the repatriation is carried out “in a humane, dignified manner, in line with global principles”.
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Somalia has been mired in an armed conflict with Islamist militants for two decades. Many remain fearful of returning to a country where insecurity remains rife and poverty is widespread.
