Somalia: Police launch manhunt after 'dangerous militants' escape from prison

MOGADISHU, Somalia - Police in Mogadishu, Somalia’s capital have launched a massive manhunt for two Al-Shabaab inmates who escaped from the central prison on Monday afternoon, creating panic in the city, Garowe Online reports.

Authorities said one prisoner has been recaptured in Hamarweyne district during hours-long search while two other detainees, including one sentenced to life imprisonment remained at large.

Police have circulated photographs of alleged Al-Shabaab extremists and requested anyone with valuable information that can lead to the re-arrests of the pair to contact the nearest station in the city.

Investigators have not yet determined how the dangerous terrorists managed to escape from the prison with maximum security, or if anyone else helped them flee the jail facility near Mogadishu seaport.

A senior security official, who spoke to Garowe Online on condition of anonymity, confirmed that three inmates broke their cells and sneaked out of the heavily fortified prison with the help of the guards.

This is not the first time that criminals are escaping from the Somalia’s central prison, where many of the country's most violent Al-Shabaab and ISIS terrorist suspects are held.

The Horn of Africa country has over the past few decades suffered varying degrees of deadly attacks by al-Qaeda linked Al-Shabaab insurgents in different parts of the country.

Last Saturday, the group carried out a truck bomb attack targeting Turkish convoy at the busy Ex-control Afgoye junction in Mogadishu, killing at least 85 people, and wounding more than 140 others.

GAROWE ONLINE