Somali security forces on Wednesday ended a 24-hour siege at a hotel in the central city of Beledwyne, leaving an unknown number of people dead, including all the al-Shabab militants who launched the attack,

Beledweyne, located about 335 kilometers (208 miles) north of Mogadishu, is the capital of the Hiran region and a strategic location in Somalia’s fight against al-Shabab, an al-Qaida-linked group that remains a major threat despite ongoing military operations by Somali forces and African Union peacekeepers.