At least 9 people were killed and 47 others wounded in a bomb and gun attack on a popular hotel in the south Somalia port city of Kismayo on Sunday before security forces ended the assault and killed the attackers.
Jubaland regional Security Minister Yusuf Hussein Dhumal told media that 9 people had been killed with 47 wounded in the attack, adding that security forces killed three attackers.
A meeting was being held at the Tawakal Hotel, which is popular with officials, to plan offensive operations against Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Shabaab militants, a local security official Farah Mohamed told Reuters news agency. He added that the car bomb blast at the hotel preceded the gunfire.
Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack.
The attack is the deadliest the restive port city has witnessed in more than two years. It came weeks after regional President Ahmed Madobe promised to launch an offensive to retake territory under the control of insurgents.
Kismayo had been relatively peaceful since the jihadis were driven out in 2012.
Federal troops backed by African Union-backed forces and local clan militia have in recent weeks retaken huge territories from al-Shabab, but the group remains deadly.
