Reuters —Gunfire was heard on Monday from inside a besieged hotel in the Somali capital that was attacked on the weekend, a nearby resident and a police officer said, while parliament said it had postponed a scheduled session.
“There is still heavy gunfire inside the hotel, and we hear explosions from time to time … we are still in our houses since last night, when the siege started,” Ismail Haaji, who lives near the hotel, told Reuters.
“The fighters who launched the attack are still fighting inside the hotel, and they are fighting with the forces of Haramcad and Gaashaan, and security forces are trying to rescue the people trapped inside the hotel,” the officer added.
Government officials in Mogadishu frequently use the Villa Rosa hotel for meetings.
Somalia’s parliament said it had postponed a scheduled session for both of its houses.