MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – Police have confirmed that a hotel in the Somali capital was hit by an explosion and an attack by jihadist rebels.
A vehicle full of explosives crashed at the entrance gate of the Afrik hotel near Mogadishu’s strategic K-4 junction on Sunday afternoon, police spokesperson Sadiq Adan Ali said.
A number of gunmen stormed the hotel quickly and shot the staff and customers inside, he said. Government forces responded to the attack and firearms could be heard coming from the hotel. Police rescued many people from the hotel, including the owner and an army general.
At least seven wounded civilians could be seen, though police did not immediately give figures.
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Al-Shabab, Somalia’s homemade jihadist rebels, claimed responsibility for the attack through their Andalus radio station.
Hundreds of newly trained al-Shabab fighters are conducting military exercises near Mogadishu, Somalia, in 2011.
(AP)
“We know they have not changed anything of their usual tactics, to bump explosives into a building and follow up, to assault with guns,” Ali said.
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In a separate incident, at least eight children died and numerous others were injured when a bomb went off in the Golweyn area, about 40 kilometers north of the coastal town of Merca, about 120 kilometers south. of Mogadishu.