The firefight between the security forces and inmates broke out in the capital’s main prison, located in the city’s south near the port.

“Somalia’s prison forces concluded an operation in which prisoners fought inside the cell. Prisoners who tried to fight were shot dead,” Somalia National TV said in a post on their Facebook account.

The five inmates who died were members of the militant group al Shabaab who had been sentenced to death, it added.

It did not say whether any prisoners had escaped during the firefight.

Two security personnel at the prison, who asked not to be named for fear of retribution, told Reuters grenades and guns had been smuggled into the cell and the inmates had used them to start the firefight.

“We heard gunfire and…explosion inside the cell. The gunfire stopped after like 15 minutes. Government forces cordoned (off) the whole area,” said Abdullahi Aden, a local resident who lives near the prison.

A police spokesperson could not be reached for a comment.

Al Shabaab has been fighting Somalia’s central government for nearly two decades and wants to establish its own rule based on its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law.

--Reuters--