Suicide bomb attack at Somalia hotel leaves at least 13 dead

The Somali militant Islamist group al Shabaab attacked a Mogadishu hotel on Sunday, driving a car packed with explosives through the hotel gate and killing at least 13 people.

“We have carried 13 dead people and 21 others who were injured, some seriously,” said ambulance worker Abdikadir Abdirahman.

A police officer, Major Nur Osoble, told Reuters a suicide car bomb had rammed the gates of the hotel, damaging the facade.

Al Shabaab, which said it was behind the blast, frequently stages bomb and gun attacks in the capital in its bid to topple Somalia’s Western-backed government.

The nation is trying to rebuild after two decades of conflict and chaos. AMISOM, the African Union’s force in Somalia, has been battling the Islamist rebels with the Somali army.

“It is a response to attacks and helicopter bombing against al Shabaab by AMISOM and the Somali government,” said Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operations spokesmans.

Al Shabaab has been pushed into increasingly smaller pockets of territory by a military offensive this year. The popular Jazeera hotel has been targeted on previous occasions. The blast on Sunday sent a plume of smoke rising above the coastal capital. Sporadic gunfire was heard shortly after the attack.

Al Shabaab, which wants to impose its strict interpretation of Islam on Somalia, killed a lawmaker, his bodyguard and an official from the prime minister's office on two attacks on Saturday. – (Reuters)