Somali Islamists attack hotel in central region

[EC]

Via Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/18/us-somalia-attacks-idUSBREA2H0FC20140318

(Reuters) - Somali Islamist militants drove a car bomb at a hotel in a town in central Somalia that was being used by African Union and Somali military forces, a resident and the militant group said.

The al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab movement said its raid on Monday claimed many lives, but poor communications to that region of the Horn of Africa nation, a country wracked by fighting for more than two decades, made it difficult to verify numbers.

The insurgent strike followed an attack on a military convoy near the capital Mogadishu on Monday which killed four Somali soldiers, an army captain said.

The AU peacekeeping force AMISOM, now bigger after Ethiopian troops joined this year, has launched an offensive to clear more territory still held by al Shabaab rebels. The Islamists have responded with more guerrilla assaults.

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