Gunmen storm Mogadishu hotel after car bombing

Gunmen stormed an upscale beachfront hotel in Mogadishu on Sunday after a car bomb detonated outside in an attack reminiscent of others carried out by Al-Shabaab militants, a police officer and witnesses told AFP.

"There was a car bomb blast targeting Elite Hotel at Lido beach. There is heavy gunfire in the building," said Adan Ibrahim, a police officer in the area.

At least five people, including two hotel security guards, have been killed, and the militants are feared to have taken hostages, police officer Ahmed Bashane told DPA.

The government did not immediately provide information on casualties, although Aamin Ambulance, a Mogadishu-based private service, reported that 28 people were wounded.

Security forces have been deployed to the area to assist the hotel guards and end the siege, said Bashane, noting that he expects the death toll to rise.

Hotel frequented by VIPs

The hotel, owned by Somali lawmaker and prominent businessmen Abdullahi Mohamed Nur, is often frequented by politicians, journalists, civil society activists.

Somalia has been embroiled in deadly violence since 1991, when clan warlords overthrew leader Siad Barre and then turned on each other.

Since 2008, al Shabaab has been fighting to overthrow the internationally-recognized central government and establish its rule based on its own interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

Last week, four Shabaab fighters held in Mogadishu's central prison were killed in an intense shootout with security forces after they somehow managed to get their hands on weapons within the facility.