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Eight people killed in attempted escape from Somali prison

Theo

Mogadishu: Eight people were killed in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Saturday when gunfire broke out between security forces and some prisoners who had obtained weapons and tried to escape, state media and the prison service reported.

The shooting broke out in the capital’s main prison, located in the south of the city near the port.

During the operation, five prisoners and three soldiers were killed and 21 people, most of them inmates, were injured, said Abdiqani Mohamed Qalaf, spokesman for the prison service, on Facebook. He blamed “a violent group” among the prisoners for the attack.

No prisoners escaped and an investigation into how the attack occurred is underway, he added.

“Somali prison staff have ended an operation in which prisoners were fighting inside the cell. Prisoners who tried to fight were shot,” Somalia’s national television said in a post on its Facebook account.

The deceased prisoners were members of the Islamist group Al-Shabaab who had been sentenced to death.

Two prison security officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, told Reuters that grenades and firearms were smuggled into the cell and that inmates used them to start the firefight.

“We heard gunshots and … an explosion in the cell. The shooting stopped after about 15 minutes. Government troops cordoned off the entire area,” said Abdullahi Aden, a local resident who lives near the prison.

Al Shabaab has been fighting against the Somali central government for almost two decades and wants to establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law.

Published July 13, 2024, 14:43 IS

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