At least 28 dead in al-Shabaab attack on Mogadishu hotel

The death toll from a militant attack on Wednesday on a hotel in Somalia's capital of Mogadishu has risen to 28, the head of the city's ambulance services said.

Militants with al-Shabaab, which claimed responsibility for the attack,rammed a car bomb into the gate of the Dayah Hotel before storming inside.

"We have confirmed 28 people died and 43 others were injured in the two blasts at the hotel,"AbdikadirAbdirahman, director of the capital's ambulance services, told Reuters.

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Until 2011, al-Shabaab, an Islamist group, controlled Mogadishu and much of Somalia.

"Well-armedmujahedeenattacked the hotel, and now they are fighting inside the hotel," reported Somalia'sAndalusradio, which is linked toal-Shabaab.

Survivors described chaotic scenes, including hotel residents hiding under beds and others jumpingout of windows of thefour-storeybuilding to escape the attackers.

"They kicked down room doors and at some point posed themselves as rescue teams by telling those inside to come out [only]to kill them," saidHassanNur, a traditional Somali elder.

He said two well-known clan elders were among those killed.

The insurgents often launch bomb and gun attacks in the capital, saying they want to topple the Western-backed government and impose their strict interpretation of Islam on the nation.

Last June, gunmen stormed theNasa-Hablodhotel, killing at least 14 people. Two weeks before that, gunmen killed 15, including two members of parliament, at the Ambassador hotel.

In the past two years, a campaign by African Union troops and Somali forces has driven the group out of key urban strongholds, but it remains active from bases in rural areas.

The Horn of Africa country swore in nearly 300 members of its parliament last month. The lawmakers will also pick the president, although that vote has repeatedly been postponed.

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