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Police and witnesses reported a massive explosion followed by gunfire near a detention facility utilised by Somalia’s intelligence service to hold Al-Shabaab militants in central Mogadishu on Saturday.
Al-Shabaab later claimed responsibility for the assault in a statement, describing it as a “martyrdom operation” that targeted the Godka Jilicow detention centre.
The attack comes during a wave of renewed assaults by the Al-Qaeda-affiliated group, which has taken control of dozens of towns and villages since launching an offensive earlier this year, undoing much of the progress made by Somali forces in 2022 and 2023.
Witnesses reported seeing smoke billowing above the facility after the explosion, followed by intense gunfire.
“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,” said Jamal Nure, a local resident.
Hours later, sporadic gunfire could still be heard, with security forces blocking off the neighbourhood.
The detention centre is located near the presidential palace. Somalia hosts around 10,000 soldiers from the African Union mission, yet attacks have persisted, including a March bombing that narrowly missed the presidential convoy and a series of strikes on Mogadishu airport in April.
Despite the insecurity, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is pressing ahead with plans for the country’s first direct elections next year.
