A hotel in Somalia’s capital has been hit by an explosion and an attack by jihadist rebels, police have confirmed.
A vehicle loaded with explosives crashed into the entrance gate of the Afrik hotel, near Mogadishu’s strategic K-4 junction, on Sunday afternoon, police spokesman Sadiq Adan Ali said.
Al-Shabab, Somalia’s homegrown jihadist rebels, claimed responsibility for the attack through their Andalus radio station.
In a separate incident, at least eight children have died and scores of others were wounded when a bomb went off in the Golweyn area, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the coastal town of Merca, some 120 kilometers (74 miles) south of Mogadishu.
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