At least 26 people, including a prominent journalist and several foreigners, have been killed in an attack on a hotel in southern Somalia.
Somali forces stormed the Asasey Hotel in the southern port city of Kismayo on Saturday morning to end the siege, which involved at least four al-Shabab assailants.
The attack began with a suicide car bomb at the entrance gate and was then followed by an assault by gunmen who stormed the hotel, which is frequented by politicians.
As well as the Briton, three Kenyans, three Tanzanians and two Americans were among those killed.
Prominent Canadian-Somali journalist Hodan Nalayeh and her husband, Farid Jama Suleiman, also died.
Fifty-six people, including two Chinese, were injured.
The attack lasted more than 14 hours before troops shot dead all attackers inside the hotel compound, local police officer Abdiqadir Nur said.
Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, claimed responsibility for the attack. The group, which is allied to al Qaida, often uses car bombs to infiltrate heavily fortified targets.
