Attack On Somali Hotel Leaves 14 Dead

An attack on a hotel in Somalia killed at least 14 people and wounded nine more, the Associated Press reported. Gunmen stormed the Naso Hablod Hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu on Saturday, taking an unknown number of hotel guests hostage in a hours-long siege. Police said that at least four gunmen were involved in the attack, which began with a suicide bomber blowing up a truck at the hotel's gate. The attack ended at about 6:30 p.m. GMT, after security forces were able to corner the gunmen on the top floor of the hotel. Authorities were not able to report whether or not any of the hostages had been killed. CNN reports that the hotel is frequented by government officials, as well as lawmakers and security officers, but that most of those killed were civilians and passers-by. Ambulance driver Yusuf Ali told the AP that most of the victims he had seen were wounded in crossfire. Another witness told the news agency that the attackers were shooting randomly. Al-Shabab, an extremist group affiliated with al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the attack on social media. The group had previously claimed responsibility for a 1st of June attack on the Ambassador Hotel, also in Mogadishu, which killed 13 people, including two members of the Somali government.