Not less than 14 people were killed, when gunmen stormed
Nasa-Hablod hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia and took an unknown number of hotel
guests hostage, police and medical workers said Saturday, before security
forces hunted down the attackers and ended an hours-long assault that began
with an explosives-laden vehicle blowing up at the hotel gate.
Islamic extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility for
the latest in a series of hotel attacks in Mogadishu.
"We have finally ended the siege. The last remaining
militants were killed on the top floor," police Capt. Mohamed Hussein said
after security forces pursued the gunmen who had retreated to upper floors of
the Nasa-Hablod hotel, setting up sniper posts on the roof and throwing
grenades. Police said at least four gunmen were involved in the attack.
"We have so far confirmed the deaths of 14 people. Some of
them died in the hospitals," Hussein said. The deaths included women who were
selling khat, a stimulant leaf popular with Somali men, outside the hotel, he
said.
Hussein said security forces killed two of the attackers,
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