A group of gunmen took guests hostage at a hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia, the nation’s capital city, after storming the building on Saturday, according to reports. According to the Associated Press, police subdued the attackers after an hours-long siege in which at least 14 people were killed.
According to Fox News, a suicide bomb went off at the entrance of the Nasa-Nablod hotel in the capital city, followed up by a second explosion and gunfire as the attackers attempted to take hold of the hotel. Police reported that at least four bodies were seen outside the hotel, while the number of hostages taken is unknown.
Al Shabab, a terror organization in East Africa, was responsible for the attack.
One witness said that the gunmen were shooting randomly at anyone in sight in the hotel. “They were shooting at everyone they could see. I escaped through the back door,” said Ali Mohamud.
Police captain Mohamed Hussein told the outlet that the gunmen fired off machine guns and tossed grenades to hold off security forces, who were trying to get to them on the second floor.
Yusuf Ali, an ambulance driver, told the Associated Press that he evacuated 11 people to hospital that were injured in the attack.
“Most of them were wounded in crossfire,” said Ali.
