Two car bombs exploded Saturday at a busy junction in Somalia's capital near key government offices, leaving ``scores of civilian casualties,'' police told state media.

A Somali official says the attack started with a suicide car bomb blast and then gunmen stormed a hotel in the port city of Kismayo.

A local district official told The Associated Press the death toll may rise as fighting continued inside the Asasey Hotel between the extremist gunmen and security forces. He said gunfire is continuing inside the hotel.