At least 5 killed in hotel attack in Somalia

At least five people were killed and several others injured in a twin suicide bomb attack on a hotel in the Somali capital early Wednesday, police said.

A police officer identified himself as Mohamed Ali told Xinhua that gunmen stormed the Dayah Hotel, which is frequented by senior government officials, after a suicide bomber detonated an explosive-laden vehicle at the main entrance of the hotel.

"After a few minutes another car bomb exploded and caused more casualties," the officer said.

"So far, five have been killed in a nearby restaurant. The restaurant was partly destroyed," he added.

A Xinhua reporter at the scene saw five journalists working for international agencies were among those wounded in the second blast.

Sources said lawmakers and government officials were inside the hotel at the time of the attack, which came as the Horn of Africa nation gears up for the presidential election.

Somalia-based militant group Al-Shabaab, which has carried out waves of attacks in Somalia in its decade-long fight to topple the government, claimed responsibility for Wednesday's attack.

source: Xinhua