Al-Shabab fighters have taken control of a hotel in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, on Friday.
“Two car bombs targeted Hotel Hayat. One hit a barrier near the hotel, and then the other hit the gate of the hotel. We believe the fighters are inside the hotel,” a police officer who gave his name as only Ahmed, told the Reuters news agency.
The assault triggered a fierce gunfight between security forces and the gunmen who were holed up inside the building, security official Abdukadir Hassan told the AFP news agency.
“We don’t have the details so far but there are casualties, and the security forces are now engaging with the enemy who are holed up inside the building,” he added.
The director and founder of Mogadishu’s Aamin ambulance services Abdikadir Abdirahman told Reuters that so far, nine wounded were taken from the hotel.
Police officers were engaged in an operation aimed at stopping the attack, the state-run Somali National News Agency said on its Twitter account, citing a police spokesperson.
“The unsung heroes of Somali Police Special Unit have rescued many people from Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu as the security forces are dealing with terrorist incident,” the agency later added.
Unverified images posted on social media show smoke billowing from the hotel that is a popular venue with lawmakers and other government officials. There are also reports of sporadic gunfire.
