Yaasin Nur was at the restaurant and told AFP it was "full of people as it was recently renovated". The Deputy Minister of Health and the Emergency Medical Response team are present at Pearl Beach hotel in #Mogadishu where security forces are working to neutralize #Alshabab terrorists who attacked the building. "I have managed to flee but there was heavy gunfire afterwards and the security forces rushed to the area." "I was near the Pearl Beach restaurant when (a) heavy explosion occurred in front of the building," witness Abdirahim Ali told AFP. Witnesses reported hearing gunfire and explosions at the hotel.
The attack ended at around 2am (2300 GMT), police said, after a fierce gunfight between security forces and the militants, all of whom were killed during the battle. The assault, for which Al Shabaab claimed responsibility, began just before 8pm (1700 GMT) on Friday when seven attackers stormed the Pearl Beach hotel, a popular spot at Lido beach along Mogadishu's coastline. Three brave members of the security forces were martyred," the Somali Police Force said in a statement, adding that 84 people were rescued from the premises. "Six civilians were martyred in the attack.
The rebels, affiliated with al Qaeda, have been waging an insurgency against the internationally backed federal government for more than 15 years and have often targeted hotels, which tend to host high-ranking Somali and foreign officials.
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