Dead and injured in car bomb attack on hotel in Somalia

At least three are dead and eight injured from the attack by a car bomb on the gate of a hotel in the Somali city of Kismayoas a police officer stated, adding that there was also an exchange of gunfire.

“So far there are at least three dead and eight wounded who have been taken to Kismayo hospital,” local security official Farah Mohammed told Reuters.

Earlier, it was reported that a car rigged with explosives had rammed into the entrance of a hotel located in the center of Kismayo city, and shots were fired, a police officer and a local resident told Reuters.

Its state television Somalia It said in a tweet that security forces had dealt with a “terrorist incident” at the hotel, with the al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab group claiming responsibility.

“There was an explosion at the Tawakal hotel and shots were heard,” Mohamed Noor, head of the local police, told Reuters, as relayed by the Athens News Agency.

Eyewitnesses reported that there was a large explosion before the shooting began.

“Security forces have surrounded the area,” Farah Ali, a shopkeeper from Kismayo, told Reuters.

Al-Shabaab’s spokesman for military operations, Abdiyasis Abu Musab, said the said group was behind the attack, while its target was administrative officials of the Jubalad district who work from the said hotel.