<div style="text-align: justify; "><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Nine people were killed and 47 wounded Sunday in an attack on a hotel in Kismayo, southern Somalia, claimed by the Al-Shabaab Islamist group, the region's security minister said.</span><br></b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The port city is the latest to be hit following a recent resurgence of attacks by the Al-Qaeda-linked group, which has mainly targeted the capital Mogadishu and central Somalia.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Sunday's assault began at 12:45 pm (0945 GMT) when a booby-trapped car rammed the entrance of Hotel Tawakal. It ended around 7:00 pm after the attackers were killed by security forces.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Among the casualties were students leaving a nearby school, Jubaland security minister Yusuf Hussein Osman told reporters. All four attackers, including the suicide bomber, were killed, he added.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"The first one detonated himself and the (remaining) three were killed by the security forces", he said, confirming an early police statement.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"This is not a government target," police officer Abdullahi Ismail said. "It is just an ordinary, civilian-frequented hotel."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Farhan Hassan was outside the hotel when the attack happened. "A suicide bomber drove a vehicle into the entrance of the hotel before the gunmen entered the building," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the six-hour attack, saying members of the federal government of Jubaland, where Kismayo is located, were meeting in the hotel at the time.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><b>- 'All-out war' -</b></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Al-Shabaab has been trying to overthrow the government for more than 15 years and regularly attacks civilian and military targets.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Kismayo was once an Al-Shabaab stronghold before it was taken over in 2012 by local militias backed by Kenyan forces.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In August, the group launched a 30-hour gun and bomb attack on the popular Hayat hotel in Mogadishu, killing 21 people and wounding 117.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In 2019, the group conducted a similar attack on a hotel in Kismayo, killing 26 and injuring 56.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, who was elected in May, vowed after the August siege to wage "all-out war" on the Islamists.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In September he urged citizens to stay away from areas controlled by jihadists, saying the armed forces and tribal militia were ratcheting up offensives against them.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">A joint US-Somali drone strike killed one of the militants' most senior commanders on October 1.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Just hours after his death was announced, a triple bombing in the southern city of Beledweyne killed at least 30 people.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">In addition to violence, Somalia -- like its neighbours in the Horn of Africa -- is in the grip of the worst drought in more than 40 years. Four failed rainy seasons have wiped out livestock and crops.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Some 7.8 million Somalis -- nearly half the population -- are affected by the drought and 213,000 are on the brink of famine as a result, according to the United Nations. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>