At least 12 people have been killed after Islamic militants attacked a hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, leading to a siege that authorities are still trying to end.
The brutal al-Qaeda -linked al-Shabaab group claimed responsibility for Friday night’s raid on the Hayat Hotel, as they continue to wage a deadly revolt against Somalia’s fragile government.
The attack started with two car bomb blasts, followed by gunfire at around 4 pm local time (6 pm UK time) on Friday and now security forces are still engaging with the enemy who have taken over the building.
Police Major Hassan Dahir confirmed to CNN that a gunfight was taking place between gunmen and Somali security forces in the area where lawmakers and government officials spend a lot of time.
The initial blast was caused by a suicide bomber before a second blast outside the hotel just a few minutes later, meaning rescuers helping casualties from the first blast were then also injured.
“A huge blast went off a few minutes before the gunmen forced their way into the hotel. We don’t have the details so far but there are casualties", said Abdukadir Hassan, a security official, to the Times.
The militants claimed the attack in a statement on a pro-Shabaab website. “A group of al-Shabaab attackers forcibly entered Hotel Hayat in Mogadishu, the fighters are carrying out random shooting inside the hotel,” they said.
Images on social media show dramatic scenes of smoke billowing from the hotel while shouting and loud bangs can be heard.
A US airstrike on Sunday killed 13 members of the al-Shabaab group, according to a statement by US Africa Command earlier this week, and it is unclear if the hotel attack is in retaliation.
In May, US President Joe Biden decided to redeploy troops to Somalia in support of the local government and to counter al-Shabaab who have been battling to remove the Somali government for more than 10 years.
This is the first attack from the militant group since the new President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, was elected in May after many months of political instability.
Earlier this month, the new prime minister, Hamza Abdi Barre, announced the appointment of the militant group's former deputy leader and spokesman, Muktar Robow, as religion minister.
The US government, at one point, had a $5m (£4m) bounty on Mr Robow's head for his capture.
The deadliest attack in Somalia to date was in October 2017 when a truck packed with explosives blew up and killed 512 people in Mogadishu.
