Somalia hotel attack: Car bomb, shooting leaves several dead

A car bomb and shooting attack on a hotel in Somalia's Kismayo city has killed at least nine people and wounded 47, the region's security minister said.

Gunfire erupted after an explosives-laden vehicle rammed into the gate of the port city's Tawakal Hotel on Sunday. 

The assault began at 12:45 pm (0945 GMT) when a booby-trapped car rammed the entrance of the hotel. It ended around 7:00 pm after the attackers were killed by security forces.

Among the casualties were students leaving a nearby school, Jubbaland Security Minister Yusuf Hussein Osman told reporters.

Witnesses also said a huge blast was heard before the gunfire started. 

All four attackers, including the suicide bomber, were killed, he added.

"The first one detonated himself and the (remaining) three were killed by the security forces," he said, confirming an early police statement.

"This is not a government target," police officer Abdullahi Ismail said. "It is just an ordinary, civilian-frequented hotel."

Farhan Hassan was outside the hotel when the attack happened. "A suicide bomber drove a vehicle into the entrance of the hotel before the gunmen entered the building," he said.

READ MORE: Deadly Al Shabab attacks target Somalia's Hiran region

The state-run Somali National Television said on Twitter security forces were dealing with a "terrorist incident" at the hotel.

The Al Qaeda-linked Al Shabab terror group said it had carried out the attack.

The group's spokesperson Abdiasis Abu Musab said the target was Jubbaland region's administrators, who work from the hotel.

Al Shabab attacks

Kismayu is the commercial capital of Jubbaland, a region of southern Somalia still partly controlled by Al Shabab. The group was driven out of Kismayu in 2012.

Despite being ousted from Somalia's major cities, including the capital Mogadishu, Al Shabab controls swathes of the countryside and civilians are often caught in the crossfire.

READ MORE: Al Shabab co-founder killed in joint operation: Somalia

Among the group's string of recent attacks was a suicide attack that killed two people including a soldier in central Somalia on Wednesday.

Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud's government has faced a sharp increase in Al Shabab activity since his election in May and has promised to wage "war" against them.

After Mohamud's election, President Joe Biden said he would restore a US military presence in Somalia to fight Al Shabab.