MOGADISHU, Somalia — Five prisoners and three soldiers were killed Saturday in a failed attempt by some inmates to escape from a prison in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, a prison official said.
The prisoners, believed to belong to the jihadist group Al-Shabaab, had managed to obtain light weapons and hand grenades from the facility. They then engaged in a violent shootout with the guards, who were surprised by this sudden and well-coordinated attack.
Colonel Abdikani Khalaf, spokesman for the Somali army's guard corps,…