Sunday November 1, 2015
By Robyn Kriel
Nairobi, Kenya --Gunmen stormed a popular hotel in Mogadishu on Sunday after opening their attack with multiple blasts, Somali officials said.
Many of the dead were civilians, said interior ministry spokesman Mohamed Yusuf Osman, who was at the attack site, the Sahafi Hotel. The armed men pushed inside the building, then Somali special forces deployed to fight the militants.
The attack kicked off when a suicide car bomb exploded at the gates of the hotel, which government officials use as a residence, Osman said.
An intelligence service official, who did not want to be named, said that two more explosions detonated during the attack -- one believed to be a bomb remotely targeting first responders. The third explosion was believed to be carried out by a suicide attacker.
Intelligence services are still investigating the attack.
CNN's Yousuf Basil contributed to this report.