Issue No. 882

The Hole of Jila'ow: Al-Shabaab Strikes NISA Prison

In October 2007, the former General Ahmed Jila'ow Adow was shot dead in Mogadishu, killed by suspected Al-Shabaab members in an ambush in the war-torn capital. Just one death among many in those months, Jila'ow was a former commander for the National Security Service for Banaadir under Siyaad Barre, and had the ignominious honour of having a jail under his responsibility in Mogadishu named after him in the Bondheere district. And 'Godka Jila'ow', translating as 'the hole of Jila'ow', maintained its reputation in the intervening years since Barre, serving most recently as the de facto second headquarters of the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA) and prison for senior Al-Shabaab members in the capital. It was also the target of a major complex attack by the jihadists on Saturday afternoon, the first of this scale in several months in Mogadishu.

In a flurry of press releases and propaganda after the 'spectacular' attack that lasted well into the early hours of Sunday morning, Al-Shabaab played on this history of the compound. In a recorded statement by Mahad Karate on Sunday, the Amniyaat commander makes several claims, including that Al-Shabaab targeted the compound due to a senior NISA meeting taking place that day, and that it freed prisoners who could "return to their families." But Karate also asserted that the prison was still remembered for a "dark time" when it was used for sexually assaulting women as well as to imprison sheikhs and Islamic scholars suspected of ‘subversive’ activities. And he claimed that little had changed, with Godka Jila'ow now being used to hold Al-Shabaab prisoners, as Karate weaved together Somali Islamic history, populist sentiment relating to Mogadishu land clearances, and called for 'jihad' against the apostate government. But beyond the spate of Al-Shabaab propaganda, the attack-- widely covered by international outlets-- has cast attention back on their continued threat to even the most heavily guarded parts of the capital.

In classic Al-Shabaab fashion, the assault began with a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device detonating at the facility's main gate at 4:50 pm, before half a dozen heavily armed Inqimasin (suicide infantry) fighters poured into the compound. Unlikely a coincidence, the jihadists also released over the weekend yet another documentary detailing the heroism of the Inqimasin. The fighters were able to penetrate deep into the headquarters and, according to their statement, to assume total control and distribute small arms to prisoners. It was a calamitous security lapse for NISA, a painful reminder of Al-Shabaab's capacity amidst the absurd claims of increased security by the federal government. The ease with which Al-Shabaab carried out the attack, with the NISA-decorated vehicle rolling through the heavily armed checkpoints of Ex-Control Afgooye and KM4 without stopping, was yet more evidence of how little has been learnt about the manner in which the extremists carry out attacks. 

By 8:30 pm on Saturday, government security sources were claiming that all 7 Al-Shabaab fighters had been killed by Gashaan paramilitary forces, but gunfire could still be heard into the night. Further, the government's assertions that only a handful of NISA troops were killed or injured cannot stack up against nearly 11 hours of near-continuous fighting. Al-Shabaab, on the other hand, has claimed that 60 soldiers and officers were either killed or injured in the attack, mostly NISA troops. It may be some time before we have an accurate picture of how many casualties were inflicted in the attack, with both the government and the militants looking to spin the weekend's events. Meanwhile, recordings of ecstatic Al-Shabaab ‘Inghimasi’ fighters within the compound were relayed on Radio Andalus, celebrating and calling upon youth to rise up against the government. In one message, the militant claimed that 12 inmates had been freed, while videos of apparent prisoners running across roofs were widely shared on social media. Although it appears that some were recaptured, it remains unclear whether any are still at large.
 
In the aftermath of the attack, speculation erupted online regarding possible collusion, the intended target of the attack, and a host of other issues. Some commentators have attempted to tie the opening up of dozens of roads to a supposed agreement between Mahad Salad, the NISA director-general, and Al-Shabaab's renewed attacks in the capital. Others have posited that this was a raid intended for the presidential palace, citing the vehicle's proximity to the compound and its apparent diversion at a nearby checkpoint away from Villa Somalia. Both may be somewhat far-fetched, and the second seems highly unlikely in light of the Al-Shabaab propaganda that immediately followed, which emphasised the timing of the NISA officials' meeting. Further, Godka Jila'ow was a high-value target in its own right, having purportedly served as one of the locations from which continuing Somali National Army operations with Ugandan forces against Al-Shabaab in Lower Shabelle have been planned. In a piece of painful irony, part of the rationale for retaking the three aortic 'bridge towns' has been to alleviate pressure on Mogadishu, with the grinding recapture of the third —Awdheegle —on Sunday being entirely overshadowed by the prison raid.

What is clear is that this was another major security lapse by NISA, which remains more focused on laying the groundwork for a term extension for President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud than securing the capital against complex attacks. Indeed, rather than acknowledge the scale of the jihadist threat, the government has instead repeatedly sought to spin any minor gains against Al-Shabaab, all while insisting that Mogadishu has never been safer despite the advanced positions of the militants. It was particularly galling then, just a few hours after PM Hamza Abdi Barre, Mahad Salad, and the Mogadishu Mayor Hassan Mohamed Hussein Muungaab reopened yet more roads in the capital, citing improved security, that Al-Shabaab carried out its first complex attack in Mogadishu for several months. 

In particular, Salad and Mungaab have been at the forefront of efforts to suppress any emergence of 'Badbaado Qaran 2.0', the Hawiye-led uprising in the capital that forced Mohamed Abdullahi Farmaajo to the table and abandon his term-extension plans. These two Villa Somalia loyalists have spearheaded the targeting and attempted suppression of the Hawiye opposition, which includes the proposed plans to introduce biometric registration for the thousands of assorted militiamen in Mogadishu to disarm those linked to senior opposition leaders such as former President Sheikh Sherif Sheikh Ahmed. And just this weekend, the Somali President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud announced the banning of armed technicals within the capital in another apparent attempt to curtail their security ahead of planned protests against the land eviction campaign this week. Sadly, Al-Shabaab did not get the memo.

Much remains unknown about the attack, including confirmed casualty numbers and whether any prisoners remain at large from the assault. But the fiasco hardly signalled a positive start to Hassan Sheikh's negotiations in Kismaayo with Jubaland President Ahmed Madoobe on Sunday, which, at the time of writing, appear to have already collapsed, with the federal president returning to Mogadishu empty-handed. But perhaps if Villa Somalia had chosen not to ruthlessly weaponise the federal government's security machinery against its domestic opposition, rather than Al-Shabaab, such an attack against the Godka Jila'ow compound may have been prevented. Instead, Al-Shabaab has been able to recapture swathes of land in central Somalia this year, and the months-long political deadlock with any national agreement for the federal elections scheduled for May 2026 appears no closer to being reached. And nearly two decades after the killing of General Ahmed Jila'ow Adow, the ghosts of Somalia's long war appear more alive than ever.

The Somali Wire Team