The armed group claims to have killed more than 10 people in Beledweyne as officials met with elders.

Al-Shabab gunmen have stormed and laid siege to a hotel in central Somalia as government officials and tribal elders met to discuss action against the outfit.

The armed group claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack on the Cairo Hotel in the town of Beledweyne in a statement. Several people are reported to have been killed.

The gunmen detonated a car bomb before storming into the building firing. An intense battle with Somali security forces was triggered, and a siege was ongoing in the early afternoon.

Varying claims

Ali Suleiman, a shopkeeper who witnessed the attack, told the Reuters news agency that he heard “a huge blast followed by gunfire. Then another blast was heard.” The witness said part of the hotel was reduced to rubble.

Al-Shabab said in a statement that it had killed more than 10 people in the attack. However, reports on the death toll varied.

Quoting Dahir Amin Jesow, a federal lawmaker from Beledweyne, Reuters reported that at least four people had been killed. The Associated Press news agency, quoting a resident in the area, reported that six people have been killed, including “two well-known traditional elders”.

Born of anarchy

Born out of Somalia’s many years of anarchy after a 1991 civil war, al-Shabab, which has ties to al-Qaeda, has been waging war against the Somali government for more than 16 years.

The armed group frequently carries out attacks targeting government officials and military personnel in the country as it tries to topple the government to establish its own strict interpretation of Islamic law although civilians are also at risk.

Controlling parts of rural Somalia, the group has continued to pose a threat to the country despite sustained military operations by the government and an African Union peacekeeping force, which pushed it out of the capital, Mogadishu.