Islamist rebels detonated a car bomb near a hotel in the Somali capital on Friday and then set off another bomb inside where politicians had gathered, killing at least 10 people including a lawmaker and lightly wounding two ministers. Al Shabaab, which claimed responsibility for the attack, aims to topple the Western-backed federal government and impose its strict version of Islamic Shariah law on the Horn of Africa nation that is struggling to rebuild after two decades of war.
The bombers targeted the Central Hotel around midday on Friday, typically a busy time for hotels as it is the Somali weekend. Ambulances wailed as they raced to the scene where a huge plume of smoke rose above the Indian Ocean coastal city. "We are behind the attack," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, told Reuters. "We targeted government officials in the hotel; this is part of our operation in Mogadishu."
The car bomb went off inside the Central Hotel compound which also houses a small mosque popular with government officials. Police said a suicide bomber ran into the mosque during Friday prayers and blew himself up. "We are very sorry that the terrorists again attack Muslims in Friday prayer in a mosque in Central Hotel," Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said in a statement.