Two of the gunnies were later rubbed out and 10 hostages freed, but five other attackers were thought to remain inside, according to Captain Mohammed Hussein.
At least nine people were killed and several maimed in the initial attack, most of them young men entering the popular Pizza House restaurant when the vehicle went
kaboom!, Hussein said, adding that attackers had cut off electricity to complicate security forces' efforts to end the siege
The gunnies "were dressed in military uniforms. They forced those fleeing the site to go inside" the restaurant, eyewitness Nur Yasin told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
Blast damages neighboring restaurant
Al-Shabaab
...
the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord...claimed to have attacked the neighboring Posh Treats restaurant, which is frequented by the city's elite and was damaged in the blast, security officials said.
Security forces rescued Asian, Æthiopian, Kenyan and other workers at Posh Treats as the attack continued, Hussein said.
Somalia-based al-Shabaab often targets high-profile areas of Mogadishu, including hotels, military checkpoints and areas near the presidential palace.
Last year, al-Shabaab became the deadliest Islamic holy warrior group in Africa, with more than 4,200 people killed in 2016, according to the Washington-based Africa Center for Strategic Studies.