Fresh Details Emerge from Deadly Gunfight in Mogadishu Central Prison

The number of inmates killed during Monday's attack at Mogadishu Central Prison has risen to 15, the government of Somalia confirmed on Tuesday, almost 24 hours after announcing the deaths of four inmates said to have been involved in a fierce shootout with the authorities.

According to the authorities, the shooting was set off by an inmate who grabbed a gun from a guard and began firing indiscriminately, killing at least three guards on the spot. A report by the Voice of America's Somali service contradicted the government account, reporting that inmates had smuggled pistols into the prison.

Ismail Muktar, the government spokesperson, gave details of the 15 dead inmates in a statement on his social media accounts, adding that several more people were critically injured. It was the first incident of such magnitude at the facility, he said. The number of soldiers killed rose to four after one more succumbed to his injuries; other prison guards were being treated in Mogadishu hospitals. Of the 15 prisoners killed, nine were serving life sentences, three were serving 15 years each, and two others were serving eight and six years. One of the inmates killed was not an Al-Shabaab convict and had been detained over a family matter, the official added.

One inmate managed to escape from the heavily fortified facility, prompting a search. He was identified as Mubarak Ibrahim Idle, an Al-Shabaab convict sentenced to ten years in 2014 and nearing the end of his sentence. Details obtained from the correctional facility indicate that those killed included Ibrahim Mohamed Mohamud, alias Gama'did, and Mohamed Daud, a former Al-Shabaab member who had joined ISIS. Both were serving 15-year sentences.

Colonel Hassan Ali Nur Shute, the military court chief, had a few weeks earlier raised the alarm over the state of the prisons, saying some convicts had access to phones and social media despite the rules. "We have a scenario where some inmates can still access social media because they have smartphones. This is an area where prison authorities should be cautious, because we now need serious rehabilitation so that they are properly corrected without giving them access to such privileges," he said.

On Tuesday, Wadajir party leader Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame accused National Intelligence and Security Agency officials of working with Al-Shabaab, without offering evidence; he is on record complaining about instances of prisoners accessing phones. The Federal Government appointed a six-member committee to investigate the incident and recommend action. The attack came hours after Al-Shabaab militants raided the April 12 military base within Mogadishu, leaving eight SNA troops dead.

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The Organization for Prisoners' Rights is an independent, non-profit civil society organization based in Mogadishu, Somalia, documenting conditions of detention, arbitrary detention, and human rights violations in Somali prisons and detention facilities since 2019.

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