EXPLOSIONS and heavy gunfire erupted near Somalia’s presidential palace on Saturday as Islamist militants attacked a major prison.

Residents in the central district of Bondhere reported hearing explosions and gunfire and seeing smoke billowing from the prison, which also serves as the headquarters of the regional intelligence unit.

The al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it had released prisoners.

The government did not immediately comment, but state media reported that the attackers had used a vehicle disguised to resemble those of the intelligence unit’s security forces and that soldiers had repelled the attack and killed several militants.

The attack targeted the Godka Jilacow prison, which was previously attacked in 2014 when al-Shabab fighters set off a suicide car bomb at the gate before storming the compound in an unsuccessful attempt to free detainees. At least a dozen people were killed.

Saturday’s attack came just hours after the federal government removed several roadblocks that had safeguarded critical government sites in Mogadishu for years.