Nine journalists covering the Hargeisa central prison gunfire in Somaliland have been detained by the police.

In a series of tweets, Somalia Journalists Syndicate (SJS) stated that the police arrested two reporters after detaining seven others covering the gunfire on Wednesday.

“The number of journalists detained in Hargeisa has now risen to nine after police arrested two more reporters covering the Hargeisa central prison gunfire on Wednesday,” the SJS wrote.

The detained journalists are Mohamed Abdi Ilig, Mohamed Faan, Hassan Galaydh, Sagal Mustafe, Ahmed Nur Samrawi, Ahmed Mohamud, Naima Abdi, Ahmed Shimali and Aidarus Mohamed.

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In another tweet, Somali Star Post reported that there was a mass arrest of journalists covering the prison gunfire.

“Media houses are being raided and journalists mass arrested in Somaliland region of Somalia. Well known journalists including our Hargeisa correspondent have been arrested for reporting on the central prison takeover by prisoners,” Somali Star Post tweeted.

The Hargeisa Central Prison gunfire started after inmates ambushed prison guards in an attempted jail break on Wednesday.

The gunfire began at the section of the prison where terror convicts were jailed. Security forces have been sent to the prison to manage the chaos.