Suspected car bomb detonates near hotel in Somalia's capital

MOGADISHU, Somalia – 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.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein says gunfire could be heard inside the Nasa-Hablod hotel.

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.

The extremist group al-Shabab often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu.