10 killed in Mogadishu hotel attack

At least 10 people were killed and scores of others injured in a suicide car explosion and gun attack targeting Maka Almukara Hotel in Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday, a police officer said.

"Ten people died, including Somali Ambassador to Switzerland Yusuf Barari who was wounded and later died in Madina hospital, and many more were wounded in the attack," Xinhua quoted Somali Police spokesperson Qasim Ahmed Roble as saying.

Roble said the fighting lasted for three hours inside the hotel, but security forces saved more people and killed all the attackers in the hotel, which now is under the control of Somali Special Forces.

Somali militant group Al Shabaab claimed the responsibility of the attack, saying they killed government officials at the hotel and will continue to target government officials at any place in Mogadishu.

The attack comes barely a day after police seized a cache of weapons and explosives in a house in the capital during a raid.