At least 29 people have been killed in an attack on a hotel in the Somali capital Mogadishu after a near 12-hour siege, police have said.
"So far I am sure 29 people died - the death toll may rise," police officer Abdullahi Nur said.
At least 12 of the dead were police officers, he added.
"We suspect some other militants disguised themselves and escaped with the residents who were rescued," police officer Major Mohamed Hussein said.
"Three militants were captured alive and two others blew up themselves after they were shot," he added.
The attack began around at 5pm yesterday when a car bomb rammed the gates of Nasahablod Two hotel, which is close to the presidential palace, and destroyed the hotel's defences.
Then gunmen stormed the building and the siege only ended this morning.
One witness saw seven bodies lying inside the hotel.
The explosion destroyed the front of the three-storey hotel and a next door hotel was also damaged.
Abdikadir Abdirahman, director of Amin ambulances, complained the emergency service had been denied access to the blast sight.
"After the hotel operation was over, we wanted to transport the casualties ... all entrances of the scene were blocked by security forces.
Al-Shabaab said 40 people had been killed, including three of its fighters who stormed the hotel.
The government and al-Shabaab typically give different figures for victims in such attacks.
They want to overthrow the UN-backed government and impose a strict form of Islamic law.
