At least 19�people have been killed in an attack on�a beachfront restaurant in the Somali�capital�Mogadishu, claimed�by al-Qaeda-linked�Shabab militants.���

Police said security forces took control of the restaurant just before dawn Friday and rescued many people trapped inside the restaurant�s hall.

Special forces went from room to room pursuing the gunmen who were holed up inside the restaurant.

The militants exploded two explosive-laden cars about an hour apart on Thursday evening in the Lido beach area. The beach�is busy with restaurants and�popular with business people.

After the first�explosion, gunmen reportedly burst into the restaurant as diners were sitting down for their evening meal.

Witnesses said the assailants began randomly firing at people and�taking hostages.

"There was confusion, everybody started panicking, and some of them ran towards the gunmen and they were shot dead," one witness,�Abdirahman Halane, told AFP.

Officials said�the gunmen�wanted to kill more civilians but the security forces rescued most of the people. Four of the attackers�were killed�and one was captured.

Somali Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke described the attack as�"barbaric and brutal attack against innocent civilians."

Shabab militants carry out regular attacks in the Somali capital and elsewhere�across the Horn of Africa country, targeting�African Union troops, government officials and foreigners.

Last week, the group�attacked Kenyan peacekeepers in southwestern Somalia, claiming it had killed about 100 Kenyans and seized weapons and military vehicles.



�By Press TV