African Union leader denounces al-Shabaab raid on Mogadishu’s Godka Jilacow prison

AU condemns Mogadishu prison assault as Somali forces end six-hour siege

NAIROBI — The African Union on Sunday condemned a deadly assault on a high-security detention facility in Mogadishu, as Somali authorities said they had killed all seven attackers after a six-hour siege that rattled a capital trying to return to normal life.

The attack targeted Godka Jilacow — a notorious detention site long linked to Somalia’s intelligence service and used to hold al-Shabaab suspects — on a morning when Mogadishu’s streets had been unusually open. Hours earlier, the federal government had lifted several roadblocks that for years choked traffic around key ministries and security compounds. The easing was meant to signal confidence in the city’s improving security. The militants answered with gunfire.

The attack and the response

Somali authorities said security forces contained the assault and killed all seven militants who stormed the area around the prison, which lies not far from government institutions in central Mogadishu. In a brief statement, officials said no civilians or security officers were killed. Al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked group that has waged an insurgency across Somalia for more than a decade, claimed responsibility.

There were few immediate details about how the attackers approached the heavily guarded site or what explosives or weapons they used. But the siege’s length — six hours in a dense urban zone — underscored the enduring capacity of al-Shabaab to strike at symbols of state power, even as Somali forces have retaken swathes of territory in the countryside and attempted to push militants further from the capital’s edges.

Sunday’s confrontation is the kind of urban test Somalia’s security forces knew would come as they try to transition from foreign-backed protection to a more autonomous, city-focused defense. From Baghdad to Kabul to Nairobi, the path back to open streets has rarely been straight. How do authorities convince people it is safe to commute and trade, while deterring fighters who see open roads as opportunity?

AU’s message: solidarity and a call to step up

The African Union moved quickly to frame the assault as part of a continental struggle against violent extremism. In a statement, AU Commission Chairperson Mahmoud Ali Youssouf condemned the attack, offered condolences to the people of Somalia and to the families of those affected, and wished the injured a swift recovery.

“The Chairperson assures the Somali Government of the full solidarity and unwavering commitment of the African Union to neutralize the pervasive threat posed by terrorism and violent extremism in Somalia, the Horn of Africa, and across the continent,” the statement said.

Youssouf urged AU Member States — including Troop and Police Contributing Countries — as well as international partners to intensify support for the Federal Government of Somalia and the African Union Support Mission in Somalia (AUSSOM) in their efforts to degrade and eliminate al-Shabaab and associated groups. That call reflects a broader recalibration in Somalia: the drawdown of the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia and the evolution toward a different AU role centered on support, mentoring and stabilization rather than large-scale combat deployments.

A city reopening, and the risk calculus

For commuters and business owners in Mogadishu, the attack hit a day that had begun with a rare gift: open roads. The concrete barriers and sand-filled checkpoints that long became part of the city’s rhythm — frustrating but familiar — had been removed from several key routes. Shopkeepers have complained for years that slow-moving convoys and unpredictable closures strangled commerce and cut off neighborhoods.

So when the barricades came down, many welcomed the signal that normal life might be starting to return, even if it was tentative. Security officials have argued that mobility can be a form of security in itself: fewer choke points, less congestion, and a city that does not telegraph when and where officials are moving. But al-Shabaab has often targeted moments of transition, seeking to prove that no policy shift goes unchallenged.

That tension — between resilience and risk — is familiar to cities that have lived with insurgency. Nairobi dismantled some of its most intrusive cordons after Westgate and Dusit attacks as policing improved and intelligence-sharing deepened. Kabul and Baghdad have both alternated between opening and re-closing roads depending on threat levels. In Mogadishu, the question now is whether the siege will slow the momentum toward normality, or galvanize authorities to double down on mobile, intelligence-led security.

What this means for Somalia’s security transition

Even with Sunday’s successful containment, the attack sent several messages. First, it reaffirmed that al-Shabaab maintains a capability to project violence into the capital. While the group has lost territory and revenue sources in recent years, it adapts quickly, leveraging networks inside major cities and exploiting gaps between agencies.

Second, it highlighted the stakes of Somalia’s ongoing security handover. As international forces step back, Somali units are increasingly responsible for layered urban defense — from the outer cordon on incoming roads to the close protection of high-value sites such as detention facilities, courts, ministries and hotels. Success depends as much on intelligence and community trust as on firepower.

Third, it put new attention on the fate of detainees and the integrity of judicial processes. Prisons that hold high-profile suspects are potent targets: a breach could free experienced operatives, boost propaganda and undermine public confidence. Ensuring such sites are secure, humane, and transparent is both a legal necessity and a counterterrorism imperative. International partners have invested in detention reforms elsewhere in the Sahel and Lake Chad Basin; similar attention is warranted in Somalia.

The AU’s statement pointed to a continental reality: the fight against groups like al-Shabaab, Islamic State affiliates, or local jihadist coalitions is not just a Somali affair. It is a regional security challenge that bleeds across borders via finance, fighters, and ideology. When frontlines shift in central Somalia, shockwaves often ripple in Kenya’s northeast, Ethiopia’s Somali Region, and even the Gulf of Aden’s maritime lanes.

What happens next? Expect Somali authorities to review the timing and scope of roadblock removals and to adjust protective postures around detention facilities and courts. Expect the AU and donors to use this incident to push for more intelligence fusion, better urban surveillance, and quick impact support to police and gendarmerie units now on the frontlines of city security.

And expect Mogadishu’s residents to do what they have done for decades: measure the risk, go to work, and insist on the ordinary. Cities targeted by extremists endure because daily life is its own kind of defiance. That resilience deserves more than words of solidarity — it needs sustained, coordinated support to make it easier to keep the roads open tomorrow than it was yesterday.

Key questions remain. Can Somalia maintain its push to reopen the capital without recreating the very choke points militants exploit? Will the shift toward an AU support mission accelerate the professionalization of Somali police and intelligence, or expose new gaps? And can the international community keep attention focused, even when the headlines move on?

For now, the facts are plain: the attackers are dead; the prison stands; the AU is doubling down on support. The harder work — securing a city while reopening its arteries — continues this morning, checkpoint by checkpoint, street by street.

By Ali Musa
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.