In Somalia, at least 23 people were killed and more than 30 injured in two blasts in capital Mogadishu yesterday.
Police said, first suicide car bomb blast took place outside a popular hotel Nasa-Hablod close to the presidential palace.
More than 20 people, including government officials, were thought to be trapped as security forces battled extremists holed up on the top floor of the hotel.
Police said, two of the five attackers were killed on the first floor while others hurled grenades and cut off the building’s electricity as night fell.
The second explosion took place near the former parliament house in nearby area.
Police said a senior Somali police colonel and a former lawmaker were among the dead. Africa’s deadliest Islamic extremist group Al-Shabab quickly claimed responsibility for this attack.
The attack in Somalia’s capital took place just two weeks after more than 350 people were killed in a massive truck bombing on a busy Mogadishu street in the country’s worst-ever attack.
