MOGADISHU: Somali security forces stormed the building on Monday after al-Shabaab militants besieged the building near the president's residence in the capital for nearly a day, ending the siege and killing nine people. Gone, according to the police.

A Briton died during the siege, according to reports where US and Turkish-trained Somalian security forces were instructed to "eliminate" the militants who stormed the building yesterday.

Local media outlets identified Birmingham resident Mohammed Sayeed Hassan Elmi as one of the Villa Rose Hotel victims.

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More than 12 hours after the Islamist group stormed the building in the heart of Mogadishu, gunfire could be heard from inside the hotel as special forces surrounded the terrorists.

A government minister claimed that he and others had kicked down a door to escape after being trapped in the hotel after evening prayers, when a suicide bomber attacked and a gunbattle ensued. A police spokesman claimed that 60 civilians had been rescued.

The attack served as a reminder that despite an offensive mounted against them by the government of President Hassan Sheikh Mahmoud, al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorists can still carry out deadly attacks inside cities, sometimes with high mortality rates. with.

Police spokesman Sadiq Adan Ali referred to the Villa Rose hotel where the siege took place and said, "The operation at the Hotel Rose has ended."

In addition to one soldier who died during the siege, Ali later stated that the militants had killed eight civilians. He said that five jawans have received injuries.

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According to Ali, six al-Shabaab fighters were involved in the attack, one of whom blew himself up, while the other five were killed by security forces gunfire.

Al-Shabaab, an organization linked to Al Qaeda that controls large parts of the country, claimed responsibility for the attack and said in a statement that it was directed at the nearby presidential palace.

Mogadishu and other places are frequently attacked by Al Shabaab, a group that seeks to overthrow the government and impose its rule based on an extreme interpretation of Islamic law.

The Villa Rose Hotel in Mogadishu is often used by government representatives for meetings. There are also some residents who work for the government.

Somalia's Environment Minister Adam Aw Hirsi claimed that a suicide bomber detonated a deafening bomb outside the hotel where he lives, after which the militants left the hotel's heavily guarded perimeter on foot.

"When the explosion happened, I had just left the hotel's mosque where we had prayed together in the evening. Mirrors were shattered, and the roof of the VIP room was blown off," Hirsi told Reuters at the scene of the attack. .

He said that he, a friend and another minister fled the building through a rear exit as "bullets started raining in all directions" at that point. Several people followed us to the door, but we kicked at the door together to open it, allowing us to escape safely.

He replied that there would be no backing down and when asked what would happen next the government would "not give up the fight".
aggressively against al-Shabaab over the past three months.

Somalia's government forces have made numerous battlefield gains with the aid of clan militias, occasional African Union troops, and US airstrikes.

Although the US military has carried out airstrikes on al-Shabaab several times this year, it was not clear whether it took part in Monday's clashes.

Despite being pushed back, al-Shabaab has been able to launch large-scale attacks on both military and civilian targets.

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At least 120 people were killed in two car bombings in October near a busy market square in Somalia's Ministry of Education. It was the deadliest attack since a truck bomb exploded at the same intersection in October 2017, killing more than 500 people.

As the siege developed on Monday, the Somalian parliament announced it had postponed a scheduled session for both its houses.