Somali terrorist group al-Shabab, which is aligned with al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for storming the Hayat Hotel in Somalia’s capital of Mogadishu Friday night.
The Islamist insurgents blasted their way into the hotel with two car bombs before opening gunfire.
“Two car bombs targeted Hotel Hayat. One hit a barrier near the hotel and then the other hit the gate of the hotel,” a police officer named Ahmed told Reuters.
“We were having tea near the hotel lobby when we heard the first blast followed by gunfire,” eyewitness Abdullahi Hussein told the Associated Press. “I immediately rushed toward hotel rooms on the ground floor, and I locked.