Six people were killed in a suicide attack targeting a hotel in Mogadishu

At least six people have been killed in a suicide attack on a hotel near the presidential palace in the capital Mogadishu.

“An al-Shabaab” suicide bomber carried out a car bomb attack on the hotel, which is known to be popular among the city’s political class, followed by an attack by gunmen on the same hotel.

The attack wounded government spokesman Farhan Mohamed Jamali, Abdihameed Abdullahi Vanaks, a senior Somali police chief, journalists at the hotel and some members of parliament.

Local media quoted witnesses as saying that the attackers fired shots in the building and the surrounding area, as a helicopter flew low above the scene.

Police spokesman Kassym-Ahmad Rubel said three hotel security guards and two members of security personnel were killed, as well as at least one gunman.

Somali police later declared the attack over, confirming that “all militants” had been killed after an operation that lasted more than 13 hours.

The Ciel Hotel has been the target of several attacks by radical al-Shabaab in the past.

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