A massive blast followed by gunfire was heard in central Mogadishu on Saturday, near a detention facility where Somalia’s intelligence service often holds Al-Shabaab militants, a police officer and multiple witnesses told AFP.
A wave of renewed attacks by the Al-Qaeda affiliated Al-Shabaab movement has hit Somalia, a poor and unstable country in the Horn of Africa.
The group has seized control of dozens of towns and villages since launching an offensive at the beginning of the year, undoing nearly all the progress made by the Somali government during its military campaign in 2022 and 2023.
Smoke was seen rising above the Godka Jilicow detention facility after a huge explosion, before the gunfire erupted.
“We heard an enormous explosion and I went onto my building’s roof. I saw a lot of smoke and an intense exchange of gunfire broke out at Godka Jilicow,” Jamal Nure, a witness, told AFP.
“Security force reinforcements are rushing to the scene,” he added.
Godka Jilicow is near the presidential palace.
“I do not have any details about the incident, but the information we have received indicates an attack by Al-Shabaab,” said Mohamed Hassan, a policeman stationed nearby.
Newarab.com