Somali hostages rescued

Somali authorities on Sunday regained control of a hotel in Mogadishu where gunmen killed at least 21 people and wounded dozens more, after a standoff of more than 30 hours.

The siege of the Hayat Hotel in the Somali capital ended around midnight Saturday night, after gunmen stormed the building Friday evening, Police Commissioner Abdi Hassan Hijar said.

“During the attack, the security forces rescued many civilians trapped in the hotel, including women and children,” he said.

Some 117 people were wounded, with at least 15 in critical condition, officials said.

“It is possible there were corpses that were not taken to hospitals, but buried by relatives,” Ali Haji, the minister for health, said. “The death toll and the casualties are based on the figure taken to hospitals.”

Police have yet to give a detailed explanation of how the attack unfolded and it remains unclear how many gunmen entered the hotel, which is popular with lawmakers and other government officials.

Ismail Abdi, the hotel’s manager, said early Sunday that security forces were still working to clear the area given the extensive damage to the building.

The Islamic extremist group alShabab, which has ties with al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack — the latest of its frequent attempts to strike places visited by government officials.

The attack was the first major incident since President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud took office in May.

Somalia’s previous president, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, had avoided any major confrontation with the extremist group, which has been fighting to topple the government for a decade.