At least 17 people were killed and others injured when three car bombs exploded in the Somali capital Mogadishu during an attack by al Shabaab on Friday.
Terrorists detonated cars outside a hotel in the capital, causing many civilian casualties, the Associated Press reported.
A security source said the explosions appeared to have been suicide bombers and occurred near a "journalist" hotel, on the other side of the street was the police's criminal investigation department.
He added that the Somali security forces killed four gunmen tried to storm the hotel but failed, likely to be many casualties.
Witnesses reported the presence of several bodies on the street, where the three explosions occurred.
Somalia's youth movement claimed responsibility for the attack, according to its radio station Adalus.
In October last year, the movement adopted the death of five men on espionage charges, including a British-born Somali, in the latest terrorist attacks.
Al Shabaab has lost control of Somalia since AU peacekeepers expelled it from the capital Mogadishu in 2011, while the Somali government and the US military are stepping up attacks on the terrorist movement.
US aircraft frequently carry out attacks on Somali terrorists, and the US military said one was killed in an air strike in southern Somalia in October.
