At least 18 people, including six assailants, have died in a bomb attack near the entrance of a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu.
One of the attackers blew himself up inside a vehicle and five others were killed by security forces.
The first explosion came from a truck directly in front of the hotel, while a second blast came from a bomb placed inside a car parked near the hotel, police officer Mohamed Dahir said.
Dahir added that after the blasts, fighters belonging to Islamist terrorist group al-Shabaab stormed the Dayah Hotel, which is popular among entrepreneurs and government officials.
Gunfire could be heard in the area.
The fatalities included government soldiers, private hotel guards and civilians, according to police and security officials.
Security Minister Abdirisak Omar Mohamed put the number of injured victims at about 40. Among those injured were four journalists, reporters at the site said.
The explosions rocked the entire city and shattered dozens of windows in the area, witnesses said.
Cars parked near the hotel were damaged from shrapnel and the pressure of the blasts, they added.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack immediately after the blasts on pro-insurgent radio station Andalus.
The group claimed its fighters killed people inside and outside the hotel.
Al-Shabaab, which is seeking an Islamist state in Somalia and is affiliated with the international al-Qaeda terrorist network, attacks government facilities and hotels in Mogadishu on a regular basis.
