[AlAhram] A suicide boom-mobile went kaboom!in Mogadishu on Thursday, killing at least five people and destroying buildings in the Somali capital’s busiest street, police said.
"The kaboom took place in a business center full of hotels, fairs, shops and restaurants," Major Mohammed Hussein, a police officer, told Rooters."Many cars are burning now," he said following the blast in Maka Al Mukaram street. "We know five people are dead and the corpse count is sure to rise."
A Rooters witness saw four dead people and dozens of others injured. He saw blood stains, a dozen cars burning and three buildings including hotels destroyed by the blast.
Earlier, a Rooters news hound heard a huge blast followed by clouds of smoke and heavy gunfire.
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"The militants are still fighting from inside a civilian house adjacent to the hotel ... [They] are fighting back with grenades and Kalashnikov [rifles]," police officer Major Musa Ali told the Reuters news agency.
Thursday evening's attack targeted the Maka Almukarramah hotel, which has already suffered several assaults by the al-Qaida-linked group. Al-Shabab said a suicide bomber from their group was responsible for the attack, which it said aimed to kill senior officials staying at the hotel.
The hotel is situated in a busy street in Mogadishu that was filled with people at the time of the attack, witnesses said. Officials say that the death toll is likely to rise, with many people lying severely wounded in hospital.