Accessibility links

Breaking News

11 Killed as Militants Attack Prison in Somalia


Somali government soldiers hold their position against suspected militants during an attack at the Jilacow underground cell inside a national security compound in Mogadishu, Aug. 31, 2014.
Somali government soldiers hold their position against suspected militants during an attack at the Jilacow underground cell inside a national security compound in Mogadishu, Aug. 31, 2014.

At least 11 people are dead after Somali security forces repelled an attack on a prison housing al-Shabab militants in Mogadishu.

Al-Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attack Sunday that targeted a prison run by Somalia's National Intelligence and Security Agency.

Gunmen stormed the facility after a car bomb exploded outside the main prison gate. Witnesses tell VOA's Somali Service that security forces killed all the attackers and no prisoners escaped.

A spokesman for Somalia's Ministry of National Security, Mohamed Yusuf Osman, says the dead include a civilian, three security guards and seven al-Shabab militants.

The al-Qaida-linked militant group has steadily lost territory to African Union and Somali government forces during the past four years, but remains a threat to Somalia's stability.

The group's fighters have killed six members of Somalia's parliament this year and carried out two assaults on the presidential palace, Villa Somalia.

  • 16x9 Image

    VOA News

    The Voice of America provides news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of over 326 million people. Stories with the VOA News byline are the work of multiple VOA journalists and may contain information from wire service reports.

XS
SM
MD
LG