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MOGADISHU — The number of people killed when suicide bombers and gunmen struck a popular hotel in Somalia’s capital has risen to 39 from the initial 22, police said on Saturday.

Guards at the Sahafi hotel and the adjacent CID office opened fire after two suicide car bombs went off on Friday afternoon, A third explosion from a bomb placed in a three-wheeled “tuk-tuk” vehicle near the hotel also hit the busy street.

“We have confirmed 39 civilians died and 40 others were injured in yesterday’s blasts,” said Mohamed Hussein, a police officer in the city.

“The death toll may rise because some people are still missing.”

The militant Islamist group al Shabaab, linked to al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack on the Hotel Sahafi, which is near the headquarters of Somalia’s Criminal Investigations Department (CID).

Somalia has been engulfed by violence and lawlessness since dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled in the early 1990s.

Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s attorney general accused members of the security service of carrying out a grenade attack on a rally attended by the prime minister, as he announced details of a string of investigations that struck at the heart of the establishment.

Members of the National Intelligence and Security Service (NISS) were involved in the blast that killed two people in June, soon after newly-elected reformist prime minister Abiy Ahmed left the stage, attorney general Berhanu Tsegaye told reporters on Monday.

Under other investigations, Berhanu added, arrest warrants have been issued for 36 security agents accused of rights abuses and corruption, and for more than 30 officials from a military-run firm, where he said inquiries had uncovered mismanagement.

Reuters could not immediately contact the security service, or the industrial conglomerate named by the attorney general – Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC).

Abiy has pushed through a series of jolting reforms since coming to power in April, including a peace deal with neighbouring Eritrea, a pledge to open up state-dominated sectors to private investors and promises to rein in the security services.

“For six years METEC made international procurements totalling $2 billion without any bidding processes,” Berhanu said, without naming the international firms involved.

The attorney general said the investigation involved METEC’s procurement procedures and its contract for the Grand Renaissance Dam, the centrepiece of Ethiopia’s bid to become Africa’s biggest power exporter.—Reuters.