MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Gunmen stormed a hotel in the center of the Somali port city of Kismayo Sunday, shortly after an explosives-packed car exploded at the hotel's gates, police said.

Officials said three gunmen were still inside the Tawakal Hotel and security forces were on the scene.

The attack began when a car driven by a suicide bomber rammed the entrance gate of hotel and then exploded, police officer Abshir Omar told The Associated Press by phone. A number of small businesses along the street were destroyed.

Some government officials and traditional elders were eating lunch there at the time of the explosion. he said. There was no immediate word on casualties.

Mohamed Nasi Guled, a senior police official in Jubaland State, said three attackers entered the hotel's premises. He vowed security forces would end the attack.

The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for the attack. Al-Shabab, which has ties with al-Qaida, regularly carries out attacks in the Horn of Africa nation.