Somalia Security: Gun and bomb attacks raise concerns about national security

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Somalia is slowly coming to terms with a deadly terrorist attack that has claimed more than 20 lives. Nearly 60 other people were wounded, including two Chinese nationals. CGTN's Abdulaziz Billow reports from Mogadishu.

It's an attack that caught many by surprise - on Friday evening, gunmen from the Al Qaeda linked group set off a car bomb outside this hotel in downtown Kismayo before engaging security forces in a gun battle that lasted more than four hours. Medina hotel in downtown Kismayo was quite popular and mostly frequented by lawmakers, clan elders and members of the diaspora returning to invest in the port city.

AHMED MOHAMED ISLAM PRESIDENT, JUBALAND STATE "Four militants launched the attacks- one of them detonated the vehicle at the entrance to the hotel - two were neutralized and the fourth was injured and is in the hands of the government. Such attacks are new to Kismayo. I urge security forces to increase surveillance, especially now that we are headed for elections."

Those killed include legislators and a presidential aspirant for regional elections next month - a popular female journalist alongside her husband were among the dead - two Chinese nationals were also wounded in Friday's attacks - Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attacks insisting that its fighters had achieved their intended objectives.

It's the first large scale attack by the terrorist group in Kismayo - six years after it lost control of the city to allied forces - for years, Kismayo served as a financial lifeline for the group.

AHMED MOHAMED ISLAM PRESIDENT, JUBALAND STATE "Al-Shabaab is not just a Somali threat, it poses a transnational threat that needs international support - today we lost many people of different nationalities. Let's increase our resolve and battle the militants in a different approach from which we have been employing."

The current president Ahmed Mohamed Islam is seeking re-election for a third term - but is facing increased opposition from his former aides - the federal government in Mogadishu has also been accused of seeking to oust the leader who enjoys wide support among security forces.

ABDULAZIZ BILLOW MOGADISHU, SOMALIA "The regional administration has been successful in containing Al-Shabaab, but the latest attacks raise serious security concerns as to how the attackers managed to obtain police uniform before launching such an attack."

US forces have increased pressure on the group in recent months. Earlier this year, close to seventy Al-Shabaab fighters were targeted in an aerial strike 50kms north of Kismayo - the fighters were targeted after storming an army base critical to the war against terrorism. ABDULAZIZ BILLOW, CGTN, MOGADISHU, SOMALIA.