A suspected suicide car bomb attack hit a hotel near the presidential palace in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Thursday, causing casualties, police and witnesses said.
The attack, which bore the hallmarks of the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Shebab rebels, hit the gate of a hotel commonly used to host visiting dignitaries and came on the eve of a visit to the city by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
« There was a heavy explosion and at the gate of the SYL hotel. It was a car bomb explosion, » Somali police official Mohamed Adan said.
Witnesses said they saw a car speeding towards the gate of the hotel, and reported a massive explosion.
« I saw the speeding along the main road and the driver turned into the Hotel SYL gate. There was huge explosion, smoke and shrapnel. Several people were down on the ground, I don’t know if they were dead, » said an eyewitness, Abdulkadir Mumin.
The attack comes even though Mogadishu, and particularly the area around the presidential palace, has been placed under extra-tight security ahead of Erdogan’s visit.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility, although Shebab rebels — who are fighting to overthrow the country’s internationallly-backed government — have carried out a string of attacks against high-profile targets in Mogadishu.