Islamist militants blasted their way into a popular hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu yesterday, killing at least seven people and trapping government officials inside, police and witnesses said.

Police said forces from the elite US-trained special forces troops known as “Gaashaan” (Shield) then stormed the hotel compound and took back control of most of the building.

Somali police said that by late in the evening , government troops had killed most of the militants

“Most parts of the hotel are in the hands of the government forces now but there is...sporadic gunfire and grenades hurled from the windows of the second floor of the hotel,” Major Ismail Olow, a police officer, told Reuters late yesterday.

Somali police said that by late in the evening the troops had killed most of the attackers.

“It is believed the attackers were nine in number. Six of them have been killed. Three are believed to be still hiding,” Olow said.

He said they had rescued most of the government officials, including the Somali ambassador to Switzerland, who was at the hotel during the time of the bloody attack.

Guests make their way to the roof as they escape from the Maka Al-Mukarama hotel during an attack by Somali Islamist group al Shabaab yesterday. Photos: ReutersGuests make their way to the roof as they escape from the Maka Al-Mukarama hotel during an attack by Somali Islamist group al Shabaab yesterday. Photos: Reuters

Al-Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab, which has also launched gun and bomb attacks in neighbouring Kenya and other countries, said its followers were responsible. Al Shabaab was pushed out of the capital by African peacekeeping forces in 2011, but the militant group has kept up guerrilla-style attacks, looking to overthrow the government and impose its strict version of Sharia, or Islamic law, on the country.

An offensive launched last year by African Union forces along with the Somali army has driven the group out of its strongholds in central and southern Somalia, while a series of US drone strikes have led to the killing of some of its top leaders.

Even as the clashes were ongoing later yesterday, the remains of two destroyed cars could be seen at the gates of the hotel which was surrounded by armed police forces and government troops.

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