At least three people have been killed in an ongoing attack on a hotel in Kismayo, southern Somalia, claimed by Al-Shabaab Islamists, police and a witness said on Sunday, IgbereTV reports
The attack began at 12:45 pm (0945 GMT) when a booby-trapped car rammed the hotel entrance.
“Terrorist attackers stormed Hotel Tawakal this afternoon and there is ongoing fighting inside the building now between the security forces and the terrorists,” police officer Abdullahi Ismail told AFP.
“There are fatalities and three civilians were confirmed dead but it is very difficult to say the exact number of the casualties now.”
“This is not a government target,” he added. “It is just an ordinary, civilian-frequented hotel.”
Al-Shabaab, which is linked to Al-Qaeda, said members of the federal government of Jubaland, where Kismayo is located, were meeting in the hotel at the time.
Witness Farhan Hassan, who was outside the hotel when the attack happened, told AFP he had seen “the dead bodies of three people recovered near the main entrance”.
“A suicide bomber drove a vehicle into the entrance of the hotel before the gunmen entered the building,” he said.
“Shooting started inside and it looks (like) the gunmen were randomly shooting people inside.”
Hassan said gunfire could still be heard inside the hotel.
“We don’t know the number of those who may have been killed inside,” he said.
Somalia, a desperately poor country in the Horn of Africa, has faced severe instability for decades.
Al-Shabaab has been fighting the internationally recognised government since 2007 and civilians are often caught in the crossfire
