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Wounded man after attack on Afrik Hotel in central Mogadishu
Photo: Farah Abdi Warsameh / dpa
Several people were killed in a suicide attack on a hotel in the center of the Somali capital Mogadishu.
The AFP news agency reported at least three deaths, the dpa reported at least 17. According to dpa, there were at least 30 injured.
The Islamist terrorist militia Al-Shabaab has confessed to the crime.
According to the news agencies, the attackers detonated a car bomb in front of the entrance to the Afrik Hotel.
Then armed men stormed the building.
The attackers holed up in the hotel and fought with security forces, said a dpa police officer.
Several people were rescued from the hotel by security forces, including some members of the military.
The Al-Shabaab militia have been fighting for supremacy in the poor country in the Horn of Africa for years and control large parts of the south and the center.
A force from the African Union (AU) and the USA are supporting the Somali government in the fight against Al-Shabaab.
However, the then US President Donald Trump ordered the withdrawal of almost all US troops from Somalia in December.
The US military is still flying air strikes against the group.
Presidential election in February gives hope
Somalia has been unstable for years and the development of a functioning state is proceeding very slowly.
An important milestone should take place on February 8th, when the country will elect a new president.
However, it will not be the first direct election with universal suffrage since 1969, as was hoped, but, as in previous years, an indirect vote based on the traditional clan system.
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bah / dpa / AFP