A suicide truck bomb exploded outside a popular hotel in Somalia's capital overnight, killing at least 23 people and wounding more than 30, and gunfire continued as security forces pursued other attackers inside the building, police said.
Two more blasts were heard, one when an attacker detonated a suicide vest.
Captain Mohamed Hussein said more than 20 people, including government officials, were thought to be trapped as security forces battled extremists holed up on the top floor of the Nasa-Hablod hotel, close to the presidential palace.
Two of the five attackers were killed on the first floor, Hussein said. The others hurled grenades and cut off the building's electricity as night fell.
Last night's blasts came two weeks after more than 350 people were killed in a massive truck bombing on a busy Mogadishu street in the country's worst-ever attack.
Al-Shabab, Africa's deadliest Islamic extremist group, quickly claimed responsibility for Saturday's attack and said its fighters were inside the hotel. As night fell, sporadic gunfire could be heard as soldiers responded.
A senior Somali police colonel and a former lawmaker were among the dead, Hussein said.
Since the blast two weeks ago, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has visited regional countries to seek more support for the fight against the extremist group, vowing a "state of war."
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