At least 17 people were killed in a night-long siege of a popular Mogadishu restaurant by al-Shabab Islamic extremists which was ended on Thursday morning by security forces.
Witnesses say that the whole district is now sealed off by the security forces and police after these attacks.
That attack began Wednesday evening with a auto bombing at the hotel's front gates, The New York Times reports, then devolved into a hostage situation at the restaurant. Residents reported gunshots during the night.
Khalif Dahir with the Amin Ambulance service says they also have carried 26 wounded people.
Five attackers; however, are believed to remain in the restaurant, according to Capt. Mohamed Hussein.
"Blood splattered across my clothes, and I had a piece of flesh on me, as people sitting around me were either dead or wounded", Said Yare, a customer of Pizza House restaurant, told dpa.
Heavy gunfire could be heard inside Pizza House where an unknown number of hostages were held, the police said.
A chef at the Pizza House restaurant, a modern venue popular with young Somalis, was among the victims. Devastating attacks on hotels have been one of their trademarks. "We understand some people have been killed", Abdullah Yasin told Xinhua.
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Police found the bodies of five girls likely killed by the militants in the restaurant.
The gunmen "were dressed in military uniforms".
In March, President Donald Trump approved new operations, including, but not limited to, airstrikes against the extremist group.
The group often attacks high-profile areas of Mogadishu, including hotels, military checkpoints and areas near the presidential palace.
The Islamist group aims to drive out African Union peacekeepers, topple Somalia's Western-backed government and impose its strict version of Islam on the Horn of Africa state.
The assault was claimed by al-Shabaab terror group, which in recent months has carried out numerous attacks on hotels and restaurants in the capital, killing dozens of civilians.
The US military also confirmed its special forces killed eight al-Shabaab fighters in an airstrike conducted in southern Somalia on Sunday.
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