17 dead, 20 took hostages in Mogadishu attack

A large number of gunmen posing as military forces held at least 20 hostages inside a popular restaurant in Somalia’s capital in an attack that began when a car bomb exploded at the gate, police and a witness said, while the extremist group al-Shabab claimed responsibility.

17 people, including foreigners, were dead, according to police and an ambulance driver.

Witnesses told Reuters news agency that the whole district was cordoned off by police.

The attack started on Wednesday evening, as Muslims were breaking their daily fast during the holy month of Ramadan.

“The fighters are still inside Pizza House and they hold inside over 20 people. We do not know how many of those are dead or alive,” Ibrahim Hussein, a police major, told Reuters.

Earlier on Wednesday, police said nine people, mostly women who were hotel staff, had died in the attack.

Al-Shabab in 2016 became the deadliest extremist group in Africa, with more than 4,200 people killed in 2016, according to the Washington-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies.