Mogadishu: Somali troops on Saturday took full control of a hotel that extremist gunmen stormed and occupied for more than 12 hours following a suicide bombing. At least 17 people died and dozens were wounded.

The gunfire has stopped and security agents have accessed the whole building, said senior police officer Capt. Mohamed Hussein. He had earlier said the gunmen were believed to have occupied the third and fourth floors of the the Maka Al-Mukarramah hotel in the capital Mogadishu. "The operation has ended we have taken full control of the hotel," Hussein said.