Somalia restaurant siege over: 18 killed in Al Shabaab attack

18 people have been confirmed dead and 19 injured after hours of gun battle since Wednesday evening between Somali security forces and Al Shabaab militants who had taken hostages in a popular restaurant in the capital Mogadishu after launching a car bomb attack in an adjacent restaurant.

Spokesperson for the Somali security forces, Ahmed Mohamed Mohamud said the siege ended Thursday morning and investigation is ongoing, state news agency SONNA reported.

“The operation ended now, 18 people killed and 19 others injured in this terrorist attack, investigations is going on at moment,” he said.

Five al Shabaab militants were reported to have carried out a car bomb attack at the Posh Treats restaurant in Mogadishu and then entered the adjacent Pizza House restaurant on Wednesday evening when residents were breaking their Ramadan fast.

The gunmen held hostages in the restaurant which was later surrounded by Somali soldiers who exchanged gunfire with the attackers.

Some of the hostages were rescued by the soldiers during the siege.

Among the dead were foreigners and children.

According to Aamin Ambulance services in Mogadishu, they had taken 26 injured people to the hospital.

Update: 2 new wounded people have just been taken to the hospitals. This makes 26 wounded in total. #Mogadishu #AaminAmbulance

— Aamin Ambulance (@AaminAmbulance) June 14, 2017

This is the biggest al Shabaab attack since the start of the month of Ramadan.

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.