Eleven killed in gun and bomb attack at hotel in Somalia's capital Mogadishu

Ten civilians and one police officer were killed in a gun and bomb attack by Al-Shabaab fighters on a hotel in Somalia's capital on Sunday.

Security forces took four hours to regain control of the Elite Hotel in the Lido beach area of Mogadishu after five assailants stormed it early Sunday evening.

Information ministry spokesman Ismael Mukhtaar Omar told AFP: "Ten people were dead and five militants were also killed, plus one Somalia special police officer."

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One of the assailants had died in the car bomb explosion that kicked off the attack and two others had died in a shootout.

Ambulance workers at the scene reported that at least 28 people were wounded.

Witnesses said the attack began with a heavy explosion and people ran from the area as gunfire could be heard from the upscale beachfront hotel.

Somalia plunged into chaos after the 1991 overthrow of then-President Siad Barre's military regime, leading to years of clan warfare followed by the rise of Al-Shabaab which once controlled large parts of the country and Mogadishu.

Al-Shabaab was driven out of the capital in 2011, but its militants continue to wage war against the government, carrying out regular attacks.

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.

Its last major attack in Mogadishu was in December 2019, when it slaughtered 81 people by detonating a vehicle packed with explosives.