Mogadishu: Security forces end attack by militant Islamists

STORY: Somali forces have lifted a siege on a hotel in the capital Mogadishu. The French media reported. “The armed attackers are dead,” said the commander of the armed forces. At least 12 people were killed in the Islamist attack on the hotel, according to the secret service. Most of the victims were civilians, a representative of the Somali intelligence service said. The attackers had stormed the hotel on Friday evening. According to eyewitnesses, large parts of the building were destroyed in subsequent skirmishes with government forces. Explosions could be heard again and again during the night. The radical Islamic Al-Schabaab militia have claimed responsibility for the attack. For more than a decade, the militia has wanted to overthrow the Somali government in order to establish its own rulership based on Islamic law. The organization, which is close to al-Qaeda, has claimed responsibility for similar attacks in the past.