MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — The Somali government says the death toll from a suicide attack at a hotel in the Somali capital on Friday has risen to 25, and 40 wounde

A statement from Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke’s office on Saturday said an Islamic extremist rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the gate of the Central Hotel, and another went in and blew himself up.

Government officials were meeting at the hotel at the time, and the statement says Mogadishu’s deputy mayor and two legislators were among the dead. It was unclear whether the 25 dead included the two bombers.

Al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militants claimed the responsibility for the attack. Despite the loss of key strongholds in Somalia, al-Shabab continue to stage attacks in the capital and elsewhere.

Source: AP