Somali businesses are seeking alternative shipping routes due to disruptions and security concerns around the Bab al-Mandab Strait and the Strait of Hormuz after Iran-backed Houthis captured a key port city and an island, sending thousands of Yemenis fleeing to neighboring Djibouti.

A health official says a large explosion in Somalia’s capital killed at least nine people and injured eight others, a health official said Saturday.

A hotel security guard stands by wreckage in the aftermath of an attack on the Afrik hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, Monday, Feb. 1, 2021. At least five people have died in the attack on the Mogadishu hotel by Somalia's al-Shabab rebels that was ended early Monday by security forces, according to the Somali police force. (AP Photo/Farah Abdi Warsameh)MOGADISHU – At least five people have died in the attack on a Mogadishu hotel by Somalia's al-Shabab rebels that was ended early Monday by security forces, according to the Somali police force. The siege of the Afrik hotel ended after a gun battle that lasted for more than eight hours, and all four rebel attackers were killed, Somali police spokesman Sadiq Adan Ali said. Somalia’s President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed and the country’s prime minister condemned the attack and sent their condolences to the families of the deceased.