At least 17 killed in suicide bomb attack on Somalia hotel

At least 17 people were killed when suicide attackers set off two car bombs at a hotel near the headquarters of Somalia's Criminal Investigations Department in Mogadishu on Friday, police said.

"So far we have confirmed 17 civilians dead. They were travelling in public vehicles at the scene when the blasts and gunfire occurred. The death toll is sure to rise," Ali Nur, a police officer in the city, told Reuters.

Twin car bombs first went off near two popular hotels as well as the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) police headquarters, followed by gunfire and a third explosion in the same area a while later.

"There is an attack going on at the CID area, two car bombs went off and gunfire followed but we don't have details," said police official Ibrahim Mohamed, referring to the initial attack.

(With inputs from agencies)