Toll from Somalia siege rises to 19: ambulance service

At least 19 people have been killed in Somalia's capital Mogadishu, ambulance workers said Friday, as security forces fought to end a nearly 20-hour siege by Al-Shabaab insurgents.

"We have recovered 14 more dead bodies from under the rubble of collapsed buildings, bringing the total number of dead to 19," Aamin Ambulance director Abdikadir Abdirahman said.

Medics had earlier pulled five bodies from the wreckage immediately after the explosion, but the recovery of more bodies was blocked by the ensuing fighting.