21 people killed in Somalian hotel attack, says minister

Photo taken on Aug. 21, 2022 shows the destroyed buildings near the site of a terrorist attack in Mogadishu, Somali. Somali government confirmed Sunday that 21 people were killed in the terrorist attack on a popular hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday evening. (Photo by Hassan Ali Elmi/Xinhua)

MOGADISHU, Aug. 21 (Xinhua) -- Somali government confirmed Sunday that 21 people were killed in the terrorist attack on a popular hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday evening.

The Minister of Health Ali Haji Adan said 15 of the wounded persons sustained serious injuries and were in critical condition after the attackers who had detonated explosives and blasted their way inside the popular Hayat hotel and engaged the security forces in a gunfight that lasted 30 hours.

"Twenty-one people were killed and 117 others wounded in the heinous terrorist attack on Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu", Haji told the state-owned Somali National Television.

Earlier, Police Commissioner Abdi Hassan Mohamed told journalists in Mogadishu that the security forces ended al-Shabab's siege of Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu on Sunday morning.

Mohamed said the specialized security forces focused entirely on rescuing the people at the scene during the operations, noting that 106 people including women and children were rescued. 

A policeman stands guard near the site of a terrorist attack in Mogadishu, Somali on Aug. 21, 2022. Somali government confirmed Sunday that 21 people were killed in the terrorist attack on a popular hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday evening. (Photo by Hassan Ali Elmi/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Aug. 21, 2022 shows the destroyed buildings near the site of a terrorist attack in Mogadishu, Somali. Somali government confirmed Sunday that 21 people were killed in the terrorist attack on a popular hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday evening. (Photo by Hassan Ali Elmi/Xinhua)

Photo taken on Aug. 21, 2022 shows the destroyed buildings near the site of a terrorist attack in Mogadishu, Somali. Somali government confirmed Sunday that 21 people were killed in the terrorist attack on a popular hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Friday evening. (Photo by Hassan Ali Elmi/Xinhua)