Several killed after gunmen storm hotel in Somalia

Somalia's security forces have ended a nearly five-hour siege by militants at a beachside hotel in Somalia's capital, said police and a government spokesman on Sunday.

At least 15 people were killed when the attackers invaded the Elite Hotel, a new establishment popular with Mogadishu's young people, said Colonel Ahmed Aden, a police officer.

Security forces later killed all four attackers and rescued dozens of people who were trapped inside the hotel, Ismail Mukhtar, spokesman of Somalia’s information ministry said.

The attack started in the afternoon with a powerful car bomb blast which blew off the security gates to the hotel.

"I heard a huge blast at the hotel, gunfire followed, and then clouds of smoke," witness Ali said.

The newly built Elite Hotel is often frequented by young people, people from the diaspora and the city’s elite including government officials and workers. 

The government has deployed security forces at Lido beach, a resident near the beach told Reuters.

"The exchange of gunfire is terrible and stray bullets reached us near the beach," said Mohamed Nur, a government worker.

There was no immediate word on casualties from the attack which shattered a period of calm of a few months following a spate of bomb attacks earlier this year.

Somalia’s homegrown militants, Al Shabab, who are allied to Al Qaeda, have claimed responsibility for the attack via its radio arm, Andalus.

The hotel attack shattered a period of calm that had lasted for a few months. Earlier this year Somalia had a spate of bomb attacks.

Somalia has been embroiled in deadly violence since 1991, when leader Siad Barre was overthrown. 

Since 2008, Al Shabab has been fighting to overthrow the internationally-recognised central government and establish its rule. 

READ MORE: Deaths as 2 explosions rock Somalia cities 

READ MORE: Soldiers killed in car bombing near Somalia stadium