Toll in Somali hotel attack rises to 28

Toll in the Feb 20 sucide attack at a hotel in Somali capital Mogadishu has risen to 28 as eight more people succumbed to injuries, Xinhua news agency quoted Security Minister Abdirisaq Omar Mohamed as saying Sunday.

According to the earlier report, at least 20 people were killed.

"We can now confirm that 28 people have died following the explosion in Central Hotel Friday, 54 other people have been injured and receiving treatment in various hospitals in the city," Mohamed told journalists in Mogadishu.

The country's largest hospital, which was recently opened by the Turkish President Receep Erdogan, has been sealed off from the public as senior government officials are receiving treatment there.

The minister's remarks came after police intelligence confirmed the suicide bomber involved in the explosion. Lul Ahmed, who worked as a receptionist in the luxurious Central Hotel, blew up herself after ramming an explosive-laden vehicle into the gate of the hotel.

"We have established that the female suicide bomber was a single mother of six children and had arrived in the country few months ago and had been working in the hotel all along," said Mohamed.

Mohamed said police had arrested all the security guards and the managers of the hotel for questioning. Police authorities also said the woman held a Dutch and Somali nationality.

The minister said the suspect worked as a receptionist at the hotel and Feb 19 night, the day before the blast, she stayed at the hotel though she would normally leave in the afternoon.

The attack by Somali militant group Al-Shabaab hit the hotel and a mosque inside while most of the people were in for the Friday prayers.