The bloodshed began when a car packed with explosives blew up at the main gate of the luxury Central Hotel, Mogadishu police Capt. Hassan Abdi told CNN.
This explosion was followed by heavy gunfire, then a second blast — a suicide bombing inside the hotel — as other attackers shot their way in, according to Abdi.
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But none of these have knocked out Al-Shabaab. It has continued its campaign of violence in attacks such as a suicide blast last month of a Somali army convoy in Mogadishu, the bombing of a bus carrying Kenyan teachers in Galkayo, Somalia, and an attack on an African Union military base.
Journalist Omar Nor reported from Mogadishu, and CNN’s Greg Botelho wrote from Atlanta.
