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Al-Shabab claims responsibility for the attack on the Villa Rose hotel in the Somali capital with no word yet on casualties.
Fighters from the armed group al-Shabab attacked a hotel used by government officials in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, according to police and government officials, with security officials saying the gunmen were wearing “suicide” vests.
There was no word yet on the casualties of the latest attack claimed by the armed group al-Shabab.
Al Jazeera could not independently verify claims that it was a suicide bombing.
The assailants stormed the Villa Rose hotel, which is near the presidential palace, with explosives and gunfire, police officer Mohammed Abdi said on Sunday. It was not immediately clear how many attackers there were, he said.
Some government officials from the Villa Rose were rescued after escaping from the windows, Abdi said.
Minister of State for the Environment, Adam Aw Hirsi, wrote on Twitter that he was safe after a “terrorist explosion targeted my residence” at the hotel, where many government officials are staying.
“We were rocked by a huge explosion, followed by a heavy firefight,” said Ahmed Abdullahi, who lives near the site of the blast.
“We’re just inside listening to gunshots.”
The attack comes as al-Shabaab has stepped up its attacks in Somalia, with at least 100 people killed in two car bombings in the Somali capital on October 30.
“Our people who were massacred… included mothers with their children in their arms, fathers who had health problems, students who were sent to study, businessmen who were fighting for the lives of their families” , Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said after visiting the site of the October 30 blast.
At least 21 people were killed in August when al-Shabab attacked another hotel in Mogadishu. The armed group also claimed responsibility for an attack on another hotel in the southern city of Kismayo last month that left nine people dead.
Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda-allied armed group that has been fighting in Somalia for more than a decade, seeks to overthrow the country’s central government and establish its own rule based on a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
The group uses a bombing campaign both in Somalia and elsewhere, and targets have included military installations as well as hotels, shopping malls and busy traffic areas.
Its fighters were driven out of Mogadishu in 2011 by African Union peacekeepers. But it still controls swathes of the Somali countryside and has stepped up its attacks since President Mohamud took office in May and promised “all-out war” against the group.
President Mohamud, with the support of the United States and allied local militias, launched an offensive against the group, although the results were limited.
