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Mogadishu bomb: Gunfire heard inside hotel near presidential palace after blast in Somali capital Mogadishu attacks: Two car bombs hit Somali capital as gunfire heard inside hotel near presidential palace
(35 minutes later)
A Somali police officer says a suspected suicide car bomb has detonated near the gate of a hotel close to the presidential palace in Mogadishu.  Two bombs have exploded in the Somali capital of Mogadishu close to the presidential palace and parliamentary buildings. 
Capt. Mohamed Hussein says gunfire could be heard inside the Nasa-Hablod hotel.  The first suicide car bomb is reported to have been driven through the front of a popular hotel while another car bomb was detonated at a building which had military personnel inside. 
Saturday's blast in Somalia's capital comes two weeks after more than 350 people were killed in a massive truck bombing on a busy Mogadishu street in the country's worst-ever attack.  At least two people are dead and more than eight people are believe to be injured. 
A Somali police officer, Nur Mohamed said: “The second car bomb occurred at the ex-parliament house where there were [military] forces."
Fellow police officer, Captain Mohamed Hussein says gunfire could also be heard inside the Nasa-Hablod hotel. 
Major Abdullahi Aden, a police officer told Reuters the car bomb exploded at the hotel gate.
"They are fighting inside. So far we do not have casualty figures," he said.
"It is a busy hotel frequented by lawmakers, (military) forces and civilians."
The blast in Somalia's capital comes two weeks after more than 350 people were killed in a massive truck bombing on a busy Mogadishu street in the country's worst-ever attack. 
The extremist group al-Shabab often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu.The extremist group al-Shabab often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu.
Since the blast two weeks ago, President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed has been visiting regional countries to seek more support for the fight against the extremist group.
A 22,000-strong multinational African Union force in Somalia is expected to withdraw its forces and hand over the country's security to the Somali military by the end of 2020.
The US military also has stepped up military efforts against al Shabab this year in Somalia, carrying out nearly 20 drone strikes.
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