At least 26 people, including a prominent journalist and politicians, have been killed in a suicide attack on a hotel in southern Somalia.

A suicide bomber rammed a car containing explosives into the Asasey Hotel in the southern port city of Kismayo and gunmen then stormed the building in the autonomous Jubaland region. At least 26 people have been killed.

Among the victims was prominent Somali-Canadian journalist Hodan Naleyah, founder of Integration TV, and Mohamed Sahal Omar, a reporter from SBC TV in Kismayo.

The al-Qaeda-linked al-Shabab fighters stormed the hotel after detonating a car bomb on Friday while local elders and legislators met to discuss approaching regional elections.

Al Jazeera’s Sara Khairat reports.

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