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Eight people were killed after militants stormed a hotel in the Somali port city of Kismayo, which began with a suicide bombing on Sunday before gunmen forced their way in and exchanged fire with security forces.
The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, saying its militants had invaded the Tawakal hotel.
Security forces from Jubaland state in southern Somalia then ended the siege, killing the gunman and rescuing dozens of people, state media reported.
There was no official word on casualties, but a doctor at Kismayo Hospital said they had seen the bodies of eight dead, four of them security personnel.
At least 41 people were injured in the attack, the doctor said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Journalists were prevented from approaching the scene of the attack. Videos shared on social media showed ambulances taking the wounded from a hotel in central Kismayo.
The city is about 310 miles from Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia.
Police Sergeant Abshir Omar said the attack began when a suicide bomber’s car slammed into the hotel door and then exploded. Some small businesses along the street were destroyed.
He said some government officials and traditional elders were having lunch at the hotel when the explosion occurred.
Jubaland senior police officer Mohamed Nasi Guled said three attackers entered the hotel.
The hotel is popular as a meeting place for government officials. Al-Shabaab is believed to have a strong presence in areas around Kismayo, Jubaland’s largest city and commercial capital.
Al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab regularly conducts attacks in the Horn of Africa country. Many of the group’s attacks have targeted popular hotels.
Al-Shabaab opposes the Mogadishu-based federal government, which it sees as a puppet of a foreign government. The group also opposes the presence of foreign troops in Somalia.
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