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Car bomb kills 6 at Somalia hotel ahead of Turkish president's visit

By Andrew V. Pestano

MOGADISHU, Somalia, Jan. 22 (UPI) -- At least six people have died after a car bomb exploded Thursday outside a hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, one day ahead of a visit by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack and said the Islamist terrorist group was targeting Turkish officials.

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Five Somali security officers and a hotel employee were killed in the attack outside the SYL Hotel, near the presidential palace, but no Turkish officials were killed in the attack.

Neil Wigan, the British ambassador to Somalia tweeted his reaction:

In 2011, Erdogan was the first non-African leader to visit Somalia in almost two decades. He visited during the 2010-12 Somali famine that killed about 260,000 people, half of them children.

Turkey's government and companies are helping Somalia's government rebuild after decades of ongoing conflict in the country. Turkey has helped rebuild roads, schools and hospitals and also refurbished Mogadishu's airport and port.

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Al-Shabab imposes strict Islamic law in the areas it controls within Somalia and frequently carries out attacks, including the 2013 Westgate shopping mall attack in Kenya in which at least 67 people were killed. Security in Mogadishu has improved since Al-Shabab lost control of the capital in 2011.

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