Somali forces have ended the siege at an upscale hotel in the country’s capital Mogadishu, police and military said, following an attack by unidentified gunmen that left dozens dead.
“The ministry of health has so far confirmed the deaths of 21 people and 117 people wounded,” Health Minister Ali Haji Adan told national broadcaster SNTV on Sunday.
“It is possible there were corpses that were not taken to hospitals but buried by relatives. The death toll and the casualties are based on the figure taken to hospitals,” the minister added.
Attackers had used the hostages “as human shields” slowing police efforts to end the “terrorist siege,” Police Major Yasin Haji told US-based media house CNN earlier. Police had first cleared the first and top floors, while the gunmen held out on the middle two floors, he said.
Some 106 people have since been rescued “including children and women,” police chief General Abdi Hassan Mohamed Hijar said in a televised briefing on Sunday morning.
The Mogadishu attack began when terrorists unleashed a gun-and-bomb assault on the popular Hayat Hotel on Friday evening. Three attackers were shot dead during the military operation to end the siege, said Hassan, a police captain who only gave one name to media house Al Jazeera.
A fourth terrorist was shot and killed in the area on Sunday morning as he attempted to merge into the civilian population, Hassan said, adding the exact number of attackers was still unclear.
The Al Qaeda-linked terrorist group Al-Shabaab claimed responsibility for the attack. In a statement posted on its affiliated online sites, the group said its fighters managed to take control of the hotel after smashing their way into the building.
