Heavy toll after hotel attack in Somalia

At least nine people were killed and 47 injured in an attack carried out on Sunday for more than six hours by radical Al-Shabab Islamists in a hotel in the city of Kismayo, in southern Somalia.

This large port city is the latest hit by the resurgence of violent actions by Al-Shabab in recent months, which has notably bloodied the capital Mogadishu and the center of the country.

The attack, which began around 12:45 p.m., ended around 7 p.m. after three assailants inside the hotel were shot dead by Jubaland state security forces.

The attack was carried out by four men: a first who carried out a suicide attack, followed by the intrusion of three armed men into the hotel.

According to Yusuf Hussein Osman, a military official in Somalia, the attack began with a suicide bomber “who blew himself up”.