Huge blast and gunfire in central Mogadishu claimed by Al-Shabaab

Al-Shabaab later claimed the attack in a statement.

A wave of renewed attacks by the Al-Qaeda affiliated jihadist 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.

Several witnesses told AFP that smoke rose 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.

Hours after the explosion, sporadic gunfire could still be heard in the neighbourhood, which had been blocked off by security forces, a local inhabitant told AFP.

Godka Jilicow is near the presidential palace.

In its statement, Al-Shabaab said that "Mujahideen fighters carried out a martyrdom operation and forced entry today, Saturday, targeting the centre known as Godka Jilacow in Mogadishu".

Some 10,000 soldiers from an African Union military force are stationed in Somalia, which has not stopped the increase in attacks, including a March 18 bomb that narrowly missed the presidential convoy or a series of attacks in April on Mogadishu's airport.

Despite the tense situation, Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is pushing for the country to hold its first direct elections next year.