Al-Shabaab siege ends at hotel in Somalia, 24 dead

Mogadishu, March 28

Blood spattered utensils, bullet-pocked walls and overturned chairs mark the reception area of a prominent hotel in the Somali capital following an attack by Islamic extremists that killed at least 24, including six attackers.

Somali special forces stood over three bloodied bodies of the alleged attackers after officials declared they have full control of the Maka Al-Mukarramah Hotel today, more than 12 hours after gunmen, believed to be six in number, from the Islamic rebel group al-Shabaab stormed into the hotel. The gunfire has stopped and security agents have gone through the whole building, said senior police officer Capt. Mohamed Hussein.

He had earlier said the gunmen were believed to have occupied the third and fourth floors of the hotel in the capital Mogadishu.

"The operation has ended. We have taken full control of the hotel," Hussein said.

Eighteen people were killed in the attack, including one solider, said Hussein. At least 28 were wounded, according to Hussein Ali, an official of Mogadishu's ambulance service.

Officials claimed to have killed six attackers but only displayed the bodies of three and did not give the location of the bodies of the other attackers.

Al-Shabaab claimed some of the gunmen involved in the attack escaped, in a statement released today. The group vowed to carry out more attacks.

Somalia's ambassador to Switzerland and Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office in Geneva, Yusuf Bari-Bari was among those killed in the attack, said Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud. Al-Shabaab, an al-Qaida-linked extremist group that has carried out many attacks in Somalia, claimed responsibility for the assault on the hotel, which is popular with Somali government officials and foreigners.

Al-Shabaab controlled much of Mogadishu between 2007 and 2011, but was pushed out of Somalia's capital and other major cities by African Union forces.

Despite major setbacks in 2014, al-Shabaab continues to wage a deadly insurgency against Somalia's government and remains a threat in the East African region. — AP