28 October 2017•Update: 30 October 2017
By Mohammed Dhaysane
MOGADISHU, Somalia
At least 27 people, including a former lawmaker and a police were killed and dozens of others wounded in two suspected suicide car blasts at a hotel in capital Mogadishu on Saturday evening, according to police.
Police Officer Ali Mohamed told Anadolu Agency over the phone that a car bomb had targeted the Nasa- hotel near the presidential palace; soon after another car bomb exploded near the scene.
"The first attack was caused by a suicide car bomber targeting the Nasa- hotel.
“The second car bomb exploded 30 minutes later near National Intelligence Agency prison as Godka-," Mohamed said.
According to Somali national news agency (SONNA), former MP Abdinasir and former police commissioner of Daynile district Mohamed Yusuf were among the dead.
Local media reported that heavily-armed gunmen had stormed the Nasa- hotel after the explosion and a continues to rage on inside.
I have seen eight wounded people at the scene; Somali security forces and emergency services are there, Mohamed , businessman, told Anadolu Agency.
Nasa- hotel is located near the presidential palace in Mogadishu.
Somali-based insurgent group al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack and said its fighters remain inside the hotel.
The latest attack comes two weeks after a suicide truck bomb attack in Mogadishu left more than 358 people dead.
