Suicide bomber attacks Mogadishu hotel: Report

A suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the gate of a Mogadishu hotel, followed by a second explosion heard inside the hotel, the Associated Press reported Saturday, citing police officials. At least four bodies were seen outside the hotel, one officer told the news organization. Police Capt. Ali Ahmed said security forces were battling the attackers, who took positions inside the Nasa-Hablod hotel near the capital's busy KM-4 junction, the AP said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. The Somalia-based, al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabaab extremist group has been waging a deadly insurgency across large parts of Somalia and often employs suicide car bomb attacks to penetrate heavily fortified targets in Mogadishu and elsewhere.

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