Somali security forces have ended a deadly 24-hour siege by Islamist fighters who stormed a popular hotel in the central city of Beledweyne, authorities said. The attack by al-Shabab began with a car bomb exploding, followed by gunmen entering the hotel, leading to intense clashes with security forces.

Gunmen stormed a hotel in the Somali city of Beledweyne on Tuesday, leaving at least five people dead and triggering an ongoing siege, according to witnesses and a Somali lawmaker. In an interview with VOA Somali, federal lawmaker Dahir Amin Jesow said local elders and government officials were meeting at the Qahira Hotel in central Somalia.

A clan elder in Beledweyne said the hotel meeting was meant to discuss ways of countering al Shabaab in the region.