A siege by Al Shabab terrorists of a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu ended on Friday after more than 13 hours, a police officer has told AFP.
"All the terrorist gunmen were killed, and the situation has returned to normal now, the security forces are carrying out a thorough clearance and investigations," said the officer, Abdirahim Yusuf on Friday.
The assault, for which Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility, began at around 9:45 pm [1845 GMT] on Thursday when gunmen stormed the SYL hotel in a hail of bullets.
There were no immediate reports of casualties at the hotel, but witnesses described the attackers shooting indiscriminately.
Deadly insurgency
Al-Shabaab has been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government for more than 16 years and has often targeted hotels, which tend to host high-ranking Somali and foreign officials.
Although the group was driven out of the capital by an African Union force, it retains a strong presence in rural Somalia and regularly carry out attacks against political and civilian targets, including in Mogadishu.
The beleaguered central government launched a major offensive against al-Shabaab in August 2022, joining forces with local clan militias.
But the offensive has suffered setbacks despite early gains.
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