MOGADISHU, July 12 -- At least six people have been killed and about 50 others injured on Friday evening following a terrorist attack at a hotel in the southern city of Kismayo in Somalia, officials have confirmed.
Jubbaland security forces spokesman Abdi Nur Ibrahim Hussein said armed militants stormed a hotel in Kismayo after they rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives at the entrance.
"The militants drove into the hotel and made way into the building after detonating bombs. Security forces are now engaging the militants inside the hotel," said Hussein, adding there were heavy casualties.
Eye witnesses confirmed the attack. "I was inside the hotel when I heard heavy gunfire but luckily I was rescued by Jubaland security forces," Mohamed Gedi told Xinhua by phone.
The hotel is popular among members of parliament and ministers. Some lawmakers were reportedly residing at the hotel at the time of the attack.
Residents said the hotel recently hosted the delegates for the upcoming presidential and parliamentary elections in Jubaland.
Multiples sources which Xinhua could not independently verify indicate that some of those killed included a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections.
The militant group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack, saying their fighters broke into the hotel, killing several security forces.
Sources said most of the people killed in the deadly attack are civilians. Witnesses said the death toll could rise since the militants are still fighting with security forces inside the hotel.
Somali journalists association confirmed that two journalists were among those killed in the Kismayo hotel attack.
According to the Somali Journalists Syndicate, Mohamed Omar Sahar, an SBC TV correspondent based in Kismayo and Hodan Naleyeh, a television journalist and founder of Integration TV, were both killed in the attack.