An all-night siege by extremist militants at a Somali hotel in the southern port city of Kismayo ended Saturday, but not before 26 people – including two Americans – were killed, officials said.
Three Kenyans, three Tanzanians, one Briton, and a prominent Canadian Somali journalist were also killed when at least four al-Shabab assailants attacked the Asasey Hotel on Friday evening.
Fifty-six people, including two Chinese, were injured in the attack, Ahmed Madobe, the president of Jubbaland regional state, told reporters.
The attack began Friday night with a suicide car bomb at the entrance gate and continued with an assault by gunmen who stormed into the building, which is frequented by politicians, patrons and lawmakers.
The attack lasted more than 14 hours before Somali troops shot dead all attackers inside the hotel compound, Col, Abdiqadir Nur, a local police officer, told The Associated Press.
Al Qaeda-linked Islamist terrorist group al Shabab, which is trying to topple Somalia’s weak U.N.-backed government, immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
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