Officials: Siege by gunmen in Somali hotel enters 2nd day

Somali soldiers take position after a bomb that was detonated at the gate of one of Mogadishu's most popular hotel. Friday, March, 27, 2015, A Somali police official says a suicide bomber has detonated his explosives-laden car at the gate of a hotel popular with government officials in Mogadishu. Capt. Mohamed Hussein says gunfire could be heard inside the Maka-Mukarramah Hotel, but it was not clear if any gunmen had managed to penetrate the hotel's gate( AP P hoto/Farah Abdi Warsameh) Somali soldiers take position after a bomb that was detonated at the gate of one of Mogadishu's most popular hotel. Friday, March, 27, 2015, A Somali police official says a suicide bomber has detonated his explosives-laden car at the gate of a hotel popular with government officials in Mogadishu. Capt. Mohamed Hussein says gunfire could be heard inside the Maka-Mukarramah Hotel, but it was not clear if any gunmen had managed to penetrate the hotel's gate( AP P hoto/Farah Abdi Warsameh)

By Associated Press March 28, 2015 1 min read

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) – Officials in Somalia say gunmen who stormed a hotel frequented by government officials and dignitaries killing at least nine people are exchanging fire with government troops more than 12 hours later.

Capt. Mohammed Hussein said Saturday that the government troops had managed to take up the ground floor of the Maka Al-Mukarramah hotel in the Somali capital, in Mogadishu, and the gunmen are believed to be on the fourth and fifth floor. The African Union Mission In Somalia, or AMISOM, posted on Twitter that there are reports of possible hostages.

The siege began Friday.

Al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab controlled much of Mogadishu between 2007 and 2011, but was pushed out of Somalia’s capital and other major cities by African Union forces. Al-Shabab continues to wage a deadly insurgency against Somalia’s government.