Two lawmakers among 15 dead in Mogadishu hotel attack  

MOGADISHU: A suicide car bomber crashed into a gate outside a hotel frequented by lawmakers in the centre of the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Wednesday and the attack was followed by gunfire, killing 15 people, police said.

Police said among the dead were two lawmakers. They had previously said at least 10 people were killed.

"Lawmakers Mohamud Mohamed and Abdullahi Jamac died in the hotel. They lived in it," Major Ibrahim Hassan, a police officer, told Reuters. "Many other people including lawmakers were rescued. The operation is about to end now. So far the death toll we have is 15 dead and 20 others wounded."

Militants from al Shabaab, a group affiliated with al Qaeda, quickly claimed responsibility for the attack on the Hotel Ambassador and said it had killed 20 people in addition to the two lawmakers.

"We targeted the members of the apostate government ... We killed many of them inside and we shall give details later. Our mujahideen are on the top floor of the hotel building," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab’s military operation spokesman, told Reuters.

Authorities could not immediately verify al Shabaab's statement.

Residents and a Reuters reporter at the scene of the attack said they could still hear sporadic gunfire.

Colonel Ali Mohamed, a Mogadishu police officer, said the hotel was hit by a car bomb that rammed its gate.

Hassan had said earlier police suspected al Shabaab fighters were still present in the hotel state-run Radio Mogadishu had said government forces were still at the scene rescuing people from the hotel.

Al Shabaab was pushed out of Mogadishu by African Union peacekeeping forces in 2011. But it has remained a potent threat in Somalia, launching frequent attacks aimed at overthrowing the Western-backed government.