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9 killed as terrorists invade Somali hotel

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The heavily fortified Youth League Hotel in the Somalia capital of Mogadishu was attacked by militants who killed at least nine people.

The attack on the hotel which was later claimed by al-Shabab saw the militants gain entry into the hotel after setting off a car bomb outside the premises before moving in.

Read also: As peace returns, Somalia deports Kenyan migrants

Police say there was also another explosion targeted at a popular park known as Peace Garden but that the attack is now over after they shot and killed four of the militants.

Sources say 40 minutes after the first car bomb went off, another explosion of the same magnitude was heard.
Al-Shabab told the BBC they were “in control” of the hotel.

“We have attacked the SYL Hotel and we’ve forced our way into the hotel,” they said.

According to eyewitnesses there were many people at the Peace Garden park at the time of the attack.

“My sister, class mates and I were taking pictures at the peace garden when the car bomb hit the gate of the park,” eyewitness Halima Nur told Reuters.

“We all rushed through the back gates,” she added.
Over the last four years, Al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate, has been waging an armed insurgency in Somalia.

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