Al-Jazeera correspondent quoted medical sources as saying that the outcome of the attack launched by the Somali Mujahideen Youth Movement on a hotel in Mogadishu rose to 10 dead and a number of injured, including the capital's intelligence chief.
As of Saturday morning, intermittent gunfire could still be heard from time to time in the hotel, while government security forces were trying to end the attack of militants believed to be hiding in one of its floors.
Al-Jazeera correspondent Omar Mahmoud quoted a Somali police spokesman as saying that they are close to completing the current security operation.
The attack began on Friday evening on the "Hyatt" hotel in southern Mogadishu, detonating two car bombs, before the gunmen took control of the hotel frequented by members of parliament and government officials.
Somali media reported that Mogadishu's intelligence chief, Muhyiddin Chador, was slightly wounded.
Somali police said they managed to rescue 30 people who were trapped inside the hotel.
Somali 🇸🇴 authorities say at least 10 people have been killed & dozens more wounded in a car bomb & gun attack by Al Shabab on a hotel in the center of Mogadishu
Sporadic gunfire could still be heard on Saturday, a day after the attack on the Hayat Hotel https://t.co/RbN1KPFb20 https://t.co/0VX77xLaeC pic.twitter.com/sGm3gA8Ad4
— Saad Abedine (@SaadAbedine) August 20, 2022
And according to a brief statement published by the "Somali Mimo" website affiliated with it, Al-Shabaab claimed the attack, and said that its members were still fighting in the hotel.
The movement said - in the statement - that its fighters managed to enter the building, where they exchanged fire with the security forces.
The operation, which security officials described as terrorist, is the largest in the Somali capital since the election of President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud in May.
Al-Shabaab had previously claimed similar attacks, including an attack on another hotel in Mogadishu in August 2020, in which at least 16 people were killed.