Somali forces end siege at Mogadishu hotel after 30 hours: Report
India Today
Somali forces have ended the siege at a Mogadishu hotel, the AFP news agency said in a tweet on Saturday, citing a security commander.
Somali forces have ended a deadly siege by Al-Shabaab jihadists at a hotel in the capital Mogadishu that lasted about 30 hours, a security commander told AFP around midnight Saturday.
At least 13 civilians have been killed and dozens wounded since militants from the Al-Qaeda affiliate unleashed a gun and bomb attack on the popular Hayat Hotel on Friday evening, according to Somali officials.
"The security forces have ended the siege now and the gunmen are dead, we've had no incoming gunfire from the building in the past hour," the commander told AFP on condition of anonymity.
He gave no further information about the total number of civilian or security casualties or how many Al-Shabaab fighters had been killed, saying the government would give a press briefing on Sunday morning.
The building still needed to be cleared of any explosives that may have been planted, he added.
This was the biggest attack in Mogadishu since Somalia's new President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in June and underscores the huge challenge of trying to crush the 15-year insurrection by the Islamist militant group.
The hotel, a popular spot for government officials, has been destroyed after security forces pounded it with heavy weapons late Saturday in a bid to eliminate the assailants who were holed up there for a second straight night.
