Earlier in the day, Somalian media reported that a group of militants started the siege of Tawakal Hotel, a popular meeting place for government officials, by detonating a car bomb. The siege reportedly left five people dead.
According to the SONNA, the civilians trapped inside the hotel were rescued. No casualties among the security forces have been reported so far.
Al-Shabaab, an Islamist group affiliated with al-Qaeda*, has claimed the responsibility for the blast. The radical group has been waging an armed insurgency against the government of Somalia for years and controls large areas in the southern and central parts of the country.
*a terrorist organization, banned in Russia