‘HUGE BLAST’

Brit Killed During al-Shabab Hotel Siege in Somalia

Jihadists were said to have stormed the hotel in Mogadishu on Sunday.

A British citizen has been killed during a siege at a hotel in Somalia, according to reports. Islamist militants stormed the hotel in Mogadishu on Sunday, with terror group al-Shabab claiming responsibility for the attack at the Villa Rose Hotel near the presidential palace. Mohamed Sayid Hassan Elmi from Birmingham in the U.K. is said to have been killed in the onslaught, which began with twin explosions and gunfire. Local security forces were ordered to “eliminate” the jihadists, some of whom were believed to be holed up in one of the hotel rooms wearing suicide vests. One eyewitness who lives close by the site of the siege said they’d heard a “huge blast, followed by a heavy exchange of gunfire,” The Sun reports. On Monday, a spokesman for Somalia’s national police said the siege had ended. “The clearance operation in the Villa Rose hotel has ended, we will give the details later,” Sadik Dudishe told reporters.