As many as 26 people, including several foreigners, were killed and 56 injured in a suicide bomb and gun attack claimed by Al-Shabaab militants on a popular hotel in southern Somalia, a top regional official said Saturday.
A suicide bomber rammed a vehicle loaded with explosives into the Medina hotel in the port town of Kismayo on Friday before several heavily armed gunmen forced their way inside, shooting as they went, authorities said.
The siege lasted for almost 12 hours and only ended on Saturday morning after clashes with security forces.
Three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, two Americans, one British and one Canadian were among the 26 people killed in the attack, president Ahmed Mohamed Islam of the semi-autonomous Jubaland region told a news conference.