A bloody hotel siege ended with at least 17 people dead after Somali troops stormed the building. It was the culmination of a 12-hour standoff which saw four Al Shabaab Islamic militants take hostages in a Mogadishu hotel after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car at the gate. Security forces, led by a unit from the elite US-trained special forces troops known as 'Gaashaan,' were able to enter and take control of the building, following a 12-hour stand off. Colonel Farah Aden, a senior police officer at the scene, said Somalia's ambassador to Geneva was amongst the dead. 'Those who died include civilians, hotel guards and government soldiers,' he said. Two locals carry a wounded boy from the scene of the suicide bombing in Mogadishu today . A hotel guest desperately tries to make his way to the roof of the hotel as militants storm the building . Somali police take position after Islamist group al Shabaab attacked Maka Al-Mukarama hotel . The gunmen took over the third and fourth floors of the the Maka Al-Mukarramah hotel in the capital Mogadishu, police officer Capt. Mohamed Hussein said. 'The operation has ended we have taken full control of the hotel,' he said. He said security forces found four more bodies in the hotel Saturday, plus the nine who died in the initial blast on Friday. Four people died in the hospital, according to Duniya Mohamed, a doctor at Madina hospital in Mogadishu. There was no immediate indication of how many of the dead were attackers, all of whom were killed according to Hussein. Hussein Ali, an official of Mogadishu's ambulance service, said there were 28 wounded. The hotel, located in Somalia's capital, is popular with government officials,with Islamic extremist group al-Shabaab claiming responsibility while the attack was ongoing. The 12-hour stand-off was brought to an end with at least 17 dead including civilians and government officials . Scroll down for video . Police and security forces stand guard at the scene of the car bombing as they exchange gunfire with militants inside the building . Somali police take aim as they walk outside the Hotel Maka Al-Mukaram, where an unknown number of people are being held hostage . A Somali man helps a wounded civilian who was injured by the car bomb detonated outside the hotel . A Somali man stands next to the wreckage of a car a suicide bomber used to kill at least nine people . Two men badly injured in the bomb blast are helped by a local amid the chaos of the attack . The attack started when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives-laden car at the gate of the hotel before gunmen quickly moved in. Al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab issued a statement taking responsibility for the blitz. 'We are behind the Hotel Maka Al Mukaram attack, and fighting is still going on inside,' the group's military spokesman Sheikh Abdiasis Abu Musab said yesterday. Police surrounded the Hotel Maka Al Mukaram, but heavy gunfire from militants initially prevented them from mounting a rescue operation. The remains of two destroyed cars could be seen at the gates of the building. 'The hotel is now fully under the control of the militants,' Major Ismail Olow, a Mogadishu police officer at the scene, said on Friday. 'Al Shabaab fighters are on the top of the building and inside the hotel. It is not easy for us to go in.' Two policemen take up positions near the hotel during their shootout with al-Shabaab extremists . Police officials peer into the hotel complex after a suicide bomber destroyed its gates earlier today . Al Qaeda-linked group al Shabaab regularly carries out attacks in the Somali capital in a bid to unseat the country's Western-backed government . Two police officers take cover behind a wall of the hotel's exterior during the standoff with the militants . Locals lower a man onto a stretcher after he was injured in the deadly bomb last which killed nine . Soldiers and policemen carry a woman from the scene amid a hail of gunfire . Al-Shabaab routinely carries out suicide bombings, drive-by shootings and other attacks in Mogadishu, the seat of Somalia's Western-backed government. The militants have continued to launch attacks in Mogadishu despite being ousted from their bases in the seaside city in 2011. Al Shabaab was pushed out of the capital by African peacekeeping forces, but have waged a series of gun and grenade attacks, looking to overthrow the government and impose its strict version of sharia law on the country. An offensive launched last year by African Union forces along with the Somali army has driven the group out of its strongholds in central and southern Somalia, while a series of U.S. drone strikes have killed some of its top leaders. Despite the military campaign, al Shabaab has continued to strike back with often devastating effect using hit-and-run bomb and gun attacks in the capital Mogadishu and other towns. It has also struck out at countries supporting the African Union mission. Security forces discuss how best to tackle the hostage situation which broke out earlier this afternoon . A soldier walks past the gate of the hotel, which is left mangled after a suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden car . Two men carry an injured boy from the scene of the attack, for which al Shabaab have claimed responsibility . Gunfire erupted between security forces and the militants after they stormed the hotel. Pictured is a policeman running into position . Soldiers armed with assault rifles take position of the area devastated by a suicide bomber .
12-hour bloody stand off ends after Somali troops storm building . Four gunmen took over hotel popular with government officials . Earlier, a suicide bomber detonated explosives-laden car at the hotel gates . Police surrounded the hotel but came under fire from Al-Shabaab gunmen . Somalia's al Qaeda-linked group has claimed responsibility for the attack .