Somalia: Al Shabaab hotel attack kills 'at least 13'

Somali militant group al Shabaab attacked a Mogadishu hotel yesterday, killing at least 13 people.

"We have carried 13 dead people and 21 others who were injured, some seriously," an ambulance worker told the Reuters news agency.

China's Foreign Ministry said that a Chinese national who worked doing security at its embassy in the country, which is located in the hotel, was among the dead, and that three others received minor injuries.

Somali government soldiers stand near the ruins of the Jazeera hotel after an attack in Somalia's capital. Credit: Reuters

A police officer, Major Nur Osoble, told Reuters a suicide car bomb had rammed the gates of the hotel, damaging the facade and causing the deaths.

Al Shabaab, which said it was behind the blast, frequently stages bomb and gun attacks in the capital in its bid to topple Somalia's Western-backed government.

The nation is trying to rebuild after two decades of conflict and chaos.