Somali troops end deadly hotel siege

Somali special forces have said that they have ended a siege at a hotel in the capital Mogadishu that was stormed by armed al-Shabab militants.

A government spokesman has said that at least 11 people were killed at the beachside Elite Hotel, in addition to five militants. This was after attackers detonated a car bomb outside the hotel on 16 August before storming it and seizing hostages.

A senior official from the information ministry and another official from the defence ministry are reported to be among the dead.

The hotel is owned by an MP and is popular with officials. Privately-owned Somali news website Dhacdoone described the hotel as one of the most heavily guarded facilities in Mogadishu.

Al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaeda, has been waging a brutal insurgency in Somalia for more than a decade. It has been pushed out of Mogadishu by government and African Union troops, but the group still carries out bombings and assassinations in the city.