Feature: Suicide car bombing kills at least 15 at Somali hotel

The Jazera Hotel, one of the most secure hotels in the Somali capital of Mogadishu and used to house foreign embassies, has fallen into ruins after a suicide car bomb hit the hotel Sunday.

Shells of burnt vehicles were still seen in front of the hotel Monday as firefighters were removing rubble from the hotel.

The attack killed at least 15 people and injured more than 40 others.

A security guard with the Chinese Embassy in Somalia, whose offices are in the hotel, was confirmed dead, while three others sustained minor injuries and were receiving treatment.

Duniya Mohamed, a doctor at Madina Hospital, said they had received 45 injured people and some cases were very serious.

"Some people got burnt; doctors are doing their best to save their lives," the doctor told Xinhua.

A senior police officer, Mahad Ali, who had arrived at the scene told Xinhua on Monday that he saw many dead and others wounded.

"One Chinese was killed in the attack. I also saw one Qatari diplomat injured and rushed to the Amisom hospital in Halane compound," the police officer said.

Located near Mogadishu International Airport, the six-story Jazera Hotel is one of the most luxurious hotels in the capital. It houses the Qatari, Egyptian and Chinese Embassies, and sometimes hosts high-level government meetings.

The suicide bomber rammed a truck rigged with explosives into the blast walls around the hotel Sunday afternoon.

Witnesses told Xinhua that the attack, which shattered some rooms, could have been even worse if the truck, which contained a ton of explosives, had not been stopped at the blast walls outside the fortified hotel.

The bombing, which was heard around the city, was one of the fiercest attacks in Mogadishu, and has created panic and fear among hotel staff and local residents.

Adbi Deeq, a hotel employee, told Xinhua that the blast was huge, and that he had never heard an explosion like this before in the capital.

"It was like an earthquake. I saw people die and others screaming and running away from here and there," he said.

Local resident Osoble Abdi said that he, too, heard the explosion and that his family was shocked by the powerful blast. "The roof of our house was vibrated by the explosion," he said.

Somalia-based militant group Al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was revenge for the African Union and Somali forces' recent operation in the Dinsoor and Bardhere regions of southern Somalia.

The hotel had been attacked twice in the past. One violent attack occurred in September 2012 targeting Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, who was meeting with senior Kenyan officials just a few days after his election.

The president has condemned the Sunday attack, saying that terrorist groups are trying to undermine the peace process in the country.

"Terrorists want to disrupt the Somalis' desire for stability and progress, but this will not happen," he said in a statement on Monday. Endi