Car explosion, gunfire hit hotel in Somalia’s Kismayo: Reports

A car laden with explosives rammed into the gate of a hotel in the centre of Somalia’s port city of Kismayo followed by gunfire, a police officer and a resident said on Sunday.
The state-run Somali National Television said on Twitter security forces were dealing with a “terrorist incident” at the hotel.
“There is a blast at Tawakal hotel and there is gunfire being heard,” Mohamed Nur, a police captain, told Reuters from Kismayo.
There was no immediate word on casualties. Witnesses said a huge blast was heard before the gunfire started.
Journalist Jama Nur Ahmed reporting from Mogadishu told Al Jazeera according to a Jubbaland official that “exchange of sire” was still ongoing between security forces and fighters in the hotel.
Kismayo is the commercial capital of Jubbaland, a region of southern Somalia still partly controlled by armed group al-Shabab.

Al Jazeera’s Jama Nur Ahmed joins us live from the capital Mogadishu for the latest updates.

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