MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — Somalia's military says it executed three men convicted of carrying out a deadly attack on a hotel in the capital in 2017.

A statement issued by the military said the three were shot dead by a firing squad at a police academy in Mogadishu Wednesday.

The men were convicted of participating in an assault on Nasa-Hablod hotel which killed 18 people and wounded 47 others in October, 2017.

The three were members of Somalia's al-Shabab Islamic extremist rebels and were arrested during the attack on the hotel.

Somalia's homegrown extremist group, al-Shabab, is allied to al-Qaida. The rebels were pushed out of the capital, several years ago, but they continue to operate in the countryside and frequently carry out violence attacks on hotels in Mogadishu.