Somali Gunmen Kill Six Lawmakers as Mogadishu Attacks Leave 60 People DeadBy Hamsa Omar and Sarah McGregor - Aug 24, 2010 7:41 AM CT
At least 60 people died in Somalia, including six lawmakers, as Islamist insurgents intensified an offensive to seize the few remaining neighborhoods of the capital, Mogadishu, still held by the Western-backed government.
The lawmakers died after two suicide bombers disguised as government soldiers shot dead people staying at the Muna Hotel in the south of the city before blowing themselves up, the Information Ministry said in an e-mailed statement.
The escalation in fighting comes weeks after the 6,100- strong African Union force that backs the government was joined by hundreds of additional Ugandan soldiers. A battalion from Burundi is also on the way and Guinea and Djibouti have pledged to send more forces to the war-torn country.
Al-Shabaab, the Islamist militia accused by the U.S. of having links to al-Qaeda, was responsible for the attack on the hotel, Sheikh Ali Mohamoud Rage, a spokesman for the militia, told reporters in Mogadishu. He said as many as 70 people died.
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