2 dead after car bomb blast in Somali capital
By Associated Press
Nov 8, 2013 12:03 PM CST

A police officer in Somalia says two people were killed after a car bomb exploded next to a hotel frequented by government officials.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein also said that least five people were injured in the Friday evening explosion. Police officer Hassan Abdi said the car bomb exploded shortly after a bomb planted in a laptop computer detonated at a nearby restaurant.

Al-Shabab militants frequently carry out suicide and car bomb attacks inside Mogadishu, and many of those are targeted at government officials.

Al-Shabab once controlled Mogadishu but was ousted from the city in August 2011. Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the September attack on the Westgate Mall in neighboring Kenya. That attack killed 67 people.