Abdirashid Abdulle Abikar/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images The body of a Somali lawmaker was removed form a hotel in Mogadishu on Tuesday after an attack by insurgents. Six lawmakers were among the dead.

NAIROBI, Kenya — Somali insurgents disguised in government military uniforms stormed a Mogadishu hotel on Tuesday and killed at least 30 people, including 6 lawmakers, laying bare how vulnerable Somalia’s government is, even in an area it claims to control.

The insurgents methodically moved room to room, killing hotel guests who tried to bolt their doors shut, Somali officials said. When government forces finally cornered the insurgents, two blew themselves up with suicide vests.

“They killed everyone they saw inside the hotel and then blew themselves up,” said Abdirahman Omar Osman, Somalia’s information minister. He called the attack “murder” and said it was “against Islamic religion,” especially during the holy month of Ramadan.

Another Somali official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the Shabab were “using all tactics.”

“They don’t care about Ramadan,” the official said. “They are criminals. They are terrorists.”

Several Somali officials have conceded that if it were not for the African Union peacekeepers, the government would fall, most likely in hours.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/25/world/africa/25somalia.html?_r=1&src=me