Several dead as gunmen storm Somali hotel in Kisimayo

At least seven people have been killed in an attack on a hotel in southern Somalia, including Canadian-Somali TV journalist Hodan Nalayeh, reports say.

Officials and survivors say a suicide bomber rammed a car containing explosives into the Asasey hotel in the port of Kismayo, and gunmen then stormed the building.

Nalayeh and her husband are among those reported to have been killed.

Islamist group al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Regional politicians and clan elders were inside the hotel discussing an upcoming regional election at the time of the attack.

Witnesses said they heard gunfire inside the hotel soon after the car bomb went off.

It was not immediately clear in the aftermath whether the attackers were still in the building.

Security official Abdi Dhuhul told AFP news agency that a former local administration minister and a lawmaker were among the dead.

Local media outlets and a Somali journalists association said Nalayeh, 43, and her husband Farid were among those killed.