{"id":3125,"date":"2025-10-05T08:36:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-05T08:36:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/05\/al-shabab-fighters-killed-in-mogadishu-prison-assault-somalia-confirms\/"},"modified":"2025-10-05T08:36:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-05T08:36:08","slug":"al-shabab-fighters-killed-in-mogadishu-prison-assault-somalia-confirms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/05\/al-shabab-fighters-killed-in-mogadishu-prison-assault-somalia-confirms\/","title":{"rendered":"Al-Shabab fighters killed in Mogadishu prison assault, Somalia confirms"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p><em>Attackers wore military uniform and rode vehicles imitating security forces to breach a high-security prison in the capital.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<p>All seven attackers who stormed a major prison complex in Mogadishu have been killed following an hours-long gun battle in the largest such assault on the capital in recent months, the Somali government has said.<\/p>\n<p>The al-Shabab group attacked Godka Jilow, an underground prison complex known to hold fighters from the armed group, on Saturday.<\/p>\n<section>\n<h2>Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n<p><span>list of 4 items<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span>list 1 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2025\/9\/23\/killed-us-twice-families-of-us-drone-victims-seek-reparations-in-somalia\">\u2018Killed us twice\u2019: Families of US drone victims seek reparations in Somalia<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 2 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/4\/24\/al-shabab-battles-somalias-army-for-strategic-military-base\">Al-Shabab battles Somalia\u2019s army for strategic military base<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 3 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/6\/24\/under-trump-us-strikes-on-somalia-have-doubled-since-last-year-why\">Under Trump, US strikes on Somalia have doubled since last year. Why?<\/a><\/li>\n<li><span>list 4 of 4<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/5\/18\/at-least-10-reported-killed-in-suicide-bomb-blast-in-somalias-mogadishu\">At least 13 reported killed in suicide bomb blast in Somalia\u2019s Mogadishu<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n<p>The government said the assault began with a car bomb blast, followed by the exchange of heavy gunfire and explosions which rang out across the city, with three members of the security forces killed during efforts to quell the attack.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement, al-Shabab, an al-Qaeda affiliate, said it launched the attack to free some of its members from the prison.<\/p>\n<p>A Somali security official at the prison told the Reuters news agency they heard a \u201chuge blast at the cell gate and soon an exchange of gunfire started\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMore forces were deployed to eliminate the fighters,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>The Somali state media said the attackers used vehicles painted to resemble those of the country\u2019s intelligence agency and wore uniforms similar to those of its military. \u201cThis enabled them to easily pass through the control checkpoints protecting the capital\u2019s security, as armed forces vehicles are not subject to formal inspection,\u201d the Ministry of Internal Security said in a statement.<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"attack-hours-after-roads-reopened\">Attack hours after roads reopened<\/h2>\n<p>The attack took place just hours after the government reopened dozens of roads across the capital for the first time in over a decade, with Prime Minister Hamza Barre citing \u201cvisible changes and improvements\u201d in the security situation.<\/p>\n<p>Local TV broadcast footage of checkpoints being dismantled.<\/p>\n<p>The Godka Jilow prison is a fortified site near the presidential palace in one of Mogadishu\u2019s most secure areas, raising doubts about reported improvements in the security situation in the Somali capital.<\/p>\n<p>Somalia\u2019s federal government has been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/4\/16\/al-shabaab-attack-strategic-town-in-central-somalia\">battling al-Shabab<\/a> since 2007. The group is considered by the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) as the \u201clargest, wealthiest, and most lethal\u201d al-Qaeda-affiliated organisation globally, controlling large swaths of southern and central Somalia.<\/p>\n<p>In recent months, al-Shabab has overturned government gains after it launched a major offensive in the regions surrounding Mogadishu and captured several strategic towns, including Adan Yabaal, a logistical hub for the Somali army, nearly 200km (124 miles) north of the capital.<\/p>\n<p>Amid major losses for the Somali military, the country\u2019s national security adviser, Hassan Sheikh Ali, stepped down in July under unclear circumstances.<\/p>\n<p>Between January and July this year, almost 60,000 people were displaced due to the fighting between government forces and the armed group in Somalia\u2019s <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/4\/24\/al-shabab-battles-somalias-army-for-strategic-military-base\">Middle Shabelle region<\/a>. A report by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies this year said Somalia accounted for a third of all casualties across Africa linked to groups with ideological ties to al-Shabab.<\/p>\n<p>In March, al-Shabab attacked Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud\u2019s convoy in Mogadishu while he was on his way to the airport in what he said was the fifth attempt on his life by the group.<\/p>\n<p>The government last month said an al-Shabab member responsible for the attack was killed in an operation by the country\u2019s intelligence service, NISA.<\/p>\n<p>The attack on the president\u2019s convoy was followed by a period of relative calm in the capital despite the deteriorating security situation in the surrounding regions.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with BBC Somali in late September, Mohamud said no Somali had died in the city for months from either al-Shabab gunfire or explosions, owing to strengthened security measures.<\/p>\n<p>Mogadishu, Somalia\u2019s historically embattled capital, is heavily defended with a large troop presence and a network of checkpoints where searches are carried out throughout the city.<\/p>\n<p>Samira Gaid, a security expert working on Somalia, says the attack shows a \u201cdisparity\u201d between the government\u2019s assessment of the security situation and the realities on the ground, as al-Shabaab has demonstrated with this assault that it can carry out attacks within proximity to the presidential palace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact that they\u2019re not ramping up attacks in the capital does not show that they\u2019re weakened but that they\u2019re biding their time and can choose when to strike,\u201d Gaid tells Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Attackers wore military uniform and rode vehicles imitating security forces to breach a high-security prison in the capital. All seven attackers who stormed a major prison complex in Mogadishu have been killed following an hours-long gun battle in the largest such assault on the capital in recent months, the Somali government has said. The al-Shabab &#8230; <a title=\"Al-Shabab fighters killed in Mogadishu prison assault, Somalia confirms\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/2025\/10\/05\/al-shabab-fighters-killed-in-mogadishu-prison-assault-somalia-confirms\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Al-Shabab fighters killed in Mogadishu prison assault, Somalia confirms\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3126,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-travel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3125"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3125\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pronews.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}