A vehicle exploded near a busy hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Monday, killing at least six people and wounding four others, police said.

The blast happened near the entrance of Weheliye hotel on the busy Maka Almukarramah road, Captain Mohamed Hussein said. The hotel was left intact, but the explosion damaged a nearby house.

Hours before, a minibus exploded when police shot at it after it refused to stop as it approached a checkpoint in the capital, police officer Nur Osman told Reuters news agency, adding that two people were wounded.

“A policeman at a checkpoint shot at the speeding minibus. It exploded and killed the al-Shabab fighter that drove it," he said.

Somalia's new Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire condemned the two attacks, saying they were carried out by "bloodthirsty groups".

No one has claimed responsibility for today's explosions in Mogadishu. In the past al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab have claimed responsibility for gun, grenade and bomb attacks in Somalia, and tend to focus on Mogadishu and other regions controlled by the federal government. </s> At least 13 people were killed in Somalia’s Mogadishu on Wednesday after gunmen crashed a car packed with explosives into the gate of Dayah hotel, Reuters reported. The hotel is said to be popular with politicians and government officials.

Islamist group Al Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack on a Telegram messaging account. “The mujahideen fighters have attacked a hotel and have managed to enter the hotel after detonating a car loaded with explosives,” read the statement by Al Shabaab, according to AFP.

The attackers stormed the hotel after the car bomb exploded and exchanged fire with security guards. A second blast went off after ambulances had arrived at the scene, leaving several injured, reported AFP.

The police said that all civilians were rescued, though the death toll may rise. The injured were taken to Madina hospital, where some of them were said to have “very serious” wounds. Dozens of people including lawmakers were said to have been inside the hotel at the time of the attack, a police official told AP.

Al Shabaab frequently attacks hotels and government buildings in Somalia in protest against the country’s government, which is backed by Western countries. On January 2, an explosion near the security checkpoint at Mogadishu’s international airport left three dead. The blast had occurred near the main base of the African Union peacekeeping mission, reported AP.
A vehicle filled with explosives detonates near a hotel in Mogadishu, killing at least six people and wounding four others.