Casualties are feared as a huge bomb exploded at a popular hotel located along the main airport road in Mogadishu on Sunday, witnesses and police confirmed, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
The police near the scene said suspected al-Shabab fighters breached the Afrik Hotel's barrier and stormed the facility's grounds, prompting a fierce gunfight.
"Our forces are exchanging fire with the attackers, we are trying to subdue them," the officer who did not want to be named told Xinhua on the phone.
Witnesses said they heard several blasts near the hotel.
They said the blast, which happened some minutes past 5 p.m., caused massive damage to business premises around the highway and plumes of black smoke, which could be seen from a distance, engulfed the area.
"I heard huge blasts at the hotel and then a huge fire followed," Ismail Ahmed, a witness told Xinhua.
The Afrik Hotel is a popular hotel with government officials and located near Mogadishu airport.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack but al-Qaida allied terrorist group, al-Shabab usually stages such attacks in the capital and across the country.