Mogadishu // Somalia’s Al Shabab insurgents killed at least six people on Sunday when they detonated a huge car bomb at a heavily guarded hotel in the capital Mogadishu housing diplomatic missions, officials and witnesses said.
The attack – the latest in a string of bomb blasts and killings in Somalia – came as US president Barack Obama left neighbouring Kenya and headed to Ethiopia, both key nations contributing troops to the African Union force (Amisom) battling the Al Qaeda-affiliated group.
Militant websites carried a statement by Al Shabab saying they attacked the Jazeera Palace hotel, which is also home to the diplomatic missions of the UAE, Qatar and China.
“We have seen around six people killed,” said government security officer Mohamed Jama, adding that the death toll could rise.
Local resident Abdihakim Ainte was nearby when the bomb exploded and described a “huge blast”. He said the hotel, which has been attacked several times in the past by gunmen, had been “torn apart” by the blast. Photographs shared on social media showed one side of the multi-storey hotel shredded by the explosion.
The attack came a day after Al Shabab insurgents assassinated a lawmaker and his guards.
Gunmen sprayed the car of MP Abdulahi Hussein Mohamud with gunfire as he travelled through a southern district of the capital Mogadishu, killing him, his two guards and the driver.
Al Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack and said they will continue targeting lawmakers.
The militants have carried out repeated attacks including a campaign of suicide attacks and assassinations targeting government figures.
The attack came as Mr Obama praised Amisom’s efforts, but said while the insurgents had been “weakened” the overall security threat posed by the group remained.
“We can degrade significantly the capacity of the terrorist organisations, but they can still do damage,” Mr Obama said.
* Agence France-Presse
