At least 10 people have been killed and many wounded in a bomb explosion at a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu Sunday.

A lorry was used to attack the Jazira hotel near the city's airport, said the BBC.

Ambulances have begun collecting the dead and wounded in what he describes as one of the worst scenes of destruction he has seen in Mogadishu.

Somali Islamist group al-Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the attack on the hotel.

It said it was responding to assaults on the group by an African Union force and the Somali government.

International diplomats often stay at the hotel, which has been targeted in the past.