Mogadishu (AFP) - Twenty-eight people were killed Wednesday when Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a popular Mogadishu hotel, setting off two car bombs and opening fire on security guards, according to the city's main ambulance service. MOGADISHU: Twenty-eight people were killed on Wednesday when Al-Shabaab fighters attacked a popular Mogadishu hotel, setting off two car bombs and opening fire on security guards, according to the city’s main ambulance service. The assault on Wednesday morning began when attackers rammed an explosives-packed car into the gate of Dayah Hotel, which is near Somalia's parliament in central Mogadishu, and then stormed inside exchanging gunfire with security guards. Security sources said at least four gunmen then entered the compound and exchanged fire with security guards, but they were shot dead before reaching the main building where guests were staying. A second massive blast went off after ambulances and journalists had already rushed to the scene, leaving at least four reporters injured, including an AFP photographer who suffered shrapnel wounds to his shoulder and leg. “So far we have counted about seven dead, most of them civilians and security guards. “We have confirmed 28 people died and 43 others injured in the two blasts at the hotel,” Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of the Mogadishu’s ambulance services, told Reuters. “Well-armed mujahideen (militants) attacked the hotel and now they are fighting inside the hotel,” said an announcer on Andalus radio, which is linked to the al Shabaab jihadist group. Story continues

The Shabaab is fighting to overthrow the internationally-backed government of Somalia and regularly stages deadly attacks on state, military and civilian targets in the capital and elsewhere in the war-torn country.
Twenty-eight people are killed in a coordinated attack on the Dayah Hotel in central Mogadishu. The terrorist group Al-Shabaab claims responsibility.