"So far we know 10 people, mostly pedestrians and passengers on the road, died and over a dozen were injured," Major Ibrahim Hassan, a Mogadishu police officer, told Reuters.
"The death toll is sure to rise. We suspect the militants are inside the hotel because we do not see occupants coming out of it."
Al Shabaab militants claimed responsibility for a car bomb attack targeting a hotel in central Mogadishu on Wednesday and said some of its fighters had stormed the premises
"We attacked the hotel with a car bomb and we went inside. We shall give details later," Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab, al Shabaab's military operations spokesman, told Reuters. Mogadishu police said some militants had apparently burst into the hotel.
