Gunfire heard inside besieged Somalia hotel, parliament session delayed

Gunfire was heard on Monday from inside a besieged hotel in the Somali capital that was attacked on the weekend, a nearby resident and a police officer said, while parliament said it had postponed a scheduled session.
The Villa Rose hotel, near the presidential residence, was stormed on Sunday by attackers of al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab, using guns and explosives, with a police officer saying at the time that some government officials escaped from its windows.
“There is still heavy gunfire inside the hotel and we hear explosions from time to time … we are still in our houses since last night, when the siege started,” Ismail Haaji, who lives near the hotel, told Reuters.
Special forces units, known as Gaashaan and Haramcad, had taken over operations, said a police officer at the scene who spoke on condition of anonymity.