Suicide attack kills 5 in Somalia

Five Somalis have been killed in a suicide attack in Somalia’s Mudug region over the weekend, Horseed Media reported today.

A suicide bomber approached a restaurant detonating an explosive vest leaving five dead and injuring eight others. The soldiers were taken to a nearby hospital in the regional capital Galkayo. Medical representatives at the hospital told Garowe Online that several are in a “critical” condition and the death toll may rise.

“An enemy man wearing an improvised device blew himself up near our military facility, killing our commander, Col. Abdi Hukun Abdullahi and two other officials,” Somali army Colonel Ahmed Mohamed Mohamoud said.

“The commander of the joint forces of the Puntland administration and the commander of the armed forces, Abd Allah Hurai, were killed along with three other officers and two soldiers in a martyrdom operation in the town of Galkayo,” Al-Shabaab-run Shahadah News Agency reported on Telegram on Saturday.

Al-Shabaab has fought government forces for more than a decade, seeking to govern Somalia with its own strict interpretation of Islam. The group frequently targets soldiers with improvised explosive devices, including suicide bombings, mostly resulting in the death of civilians.

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Al-Shabaab has been subject to attack by the African Union Mission in Somalia, backed by some regional states in Africa. The United States has also executed 745 targeted drone strikes and counter-terrorism raids to neutralise threats across Somalia since 2004.

Somalia’s security forces executed an operation last month in northern Mogadishu arresting over 100 criminal suspects, including those suspected of collaborating with Al-Shabaab.

Early this month, the group were held responsible for targeting a football match in the south-western Somali town of Barawe. The attack killed five civilians and injured more than ten people who were seated in the special guest section.

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