MOGADISHU, Somalia — At least four gunmen took up positions inside a Mogadishu hotel Friday, exchanging fire with security forces, a Somali police official said.

Capt. Mohamed Hussein told The Associated Press that an unknown number of people are trapped inside the building amid sporadic exchanges of gunfire.

The attack started when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car at the gate of a hotel popular with government officials in Mogadishu on Friday. Gunmen then quickly moved in.

Hussein said he had counted at least nine bodies at the scene, and the death toll is likely to rise.

It remained unclear who was being targeted in the attack that is believed to have been carried out by the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab.

Al-Shabab routinely carries out suicide bombings, drive-by shootings and other attacks in Mogadishu, the seat of Somalia's Western-backed government.

The militants have continued to launch attacks in Mogadishu despite being ousted from their bases in the seaside city in 2011.