Shelling, casualties, devastation as Somali forces rescue 106 lodgers Al- Shabbab held hostage

No fewer than 106 hostages trapped in Hayat Hotel by terrorists have been rescued by the Somali security forces on the second day of the attack that rocked the country’s capital on Saturday.

The first day left 20 people dead in explosion that first went off before the Al Shabbab terrorists took over the hotel largely accommodating government officials in Mogadishu.

There has been heavy security around the place following a heavy gunfight between the security agents and the terrorists.

Buildings around the hotel were heavily damaged; some parts collapsed.

Police commissioner Abdi Hassan Mohamed Hijar told reporters on Sunday that ‘106 people including children and women’ were rescued by security forces during the siege which ended around midnight.

‘The casualties mostly happened in the early hours of the attack, after that security forces spent time rescuing people individually and room by room,’ Hijar said.