AN armed police officer of the Chinese Embassy has been confirmed killed in Sunday’s suicide car bombing attack at the Jazeera Hotel in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

    The embassy, which is located in the hotel, said yesterday that three other officers received minor injuries in the incident, which killed at least 15 and injured over 40 at the latest count. The militant group al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack.

    China was greatly shocked by the attack and strongly condemns it, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang, while offering sincere condolences over the loss of lives.

    China has lodged representations with the Somali side both in Mogadishu and in Beijing, and has moved the embassy staff to a safe area.

    A suicide bomber rammed his car loaded with explosives into the gate of the heavily guarded hotel Sunday, which also houses the embassies of Egypt, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, and is frequented by diplomats and foreign visitors.

    The six-story building partially collapsed in the blast. One side of the hotel was completely smashed, with walls shattered and blackened by smoke. Hotel rubble and remains of the detonated car could be seen on the ground.

    The Chinese Embassy, located on the top two floors of the hotel, had its offices partially damaged in the attack, which was one of the fiercest in Mogadishu and caused panic among hotel staff and local residents.

    Al-Shabaab, a Somalia-based militant group linked with al-Qaida, claimed responsibility for the attack on pro-militant radio station Andalus shortly after the bombing.

    The radical organization said that the attack was to retaliate against the recent operations by the African Union and Somali forces in the southern Somali regions of Dinsoor and Bardhere, and that they targeted the hotel because it houses “Western” embassies coordinating the offensive.

    The extremist group has regularly launched attacks in Somalia in recent years and has been targeting neighboring Kenya since 2011, when Kenyan troops entered Somalia to aid the government in its fight against the terrorist group.

    The incident was the latest in a series of blasts and killings in the war-torn Horn of Africa nation.

    On July 10, Al-Shabaab orchestrated a string of assaults on two hotels and a stadium in the capital, killing six people,

    (Xinhua)