At least 8 dead in shooting during failed prison break in Somali capital

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Five inmates and three soldiers were killed Saturday in a failed escape attempt by some prisoners from a prison in the Somali capital Mogadishu, a correctional official said.

Twenty-one people were injured in the incident on Saturday morning, said Colonel Abdikani Khalaf, spokesman for the Somali Army Guard Corps.

After the incident, he told reporters that some prisoners armed with small arms and hand grenades fired shots at the guards.

State media reported that an elite police unit intervened and thwarted the prison break attempt.

The shooting and explosions had interrupted weeks of relative calm for the residents of Mogadishu, where attacks by the militant Islamic group al-Shabab have continued.

The prisoners involved in the prison break attempt were probably members of the al-Shabab militia, which has not claimed responsibility for the incident.

Somali authorities said they had launched an investigation to find out how the detainees obtained weapons.

This is not the first escape attempt from Mogadishu’s main prison. In a similar incident in 2020, nine inmates lost their lives when they clashed with security forces while trying to escape.