Somalia: Deputy Defense minister unhurt after Mogadishu blast

MOGADISHU, Somalia – Somalia’s deputy defence minister, Abdullahi Olad Rooble has escaped a brazen assassination attempt Thursday when a bomb exploded near his convoy in Mogadishu, Garowe Online reports.

At least one passer-by civilian was reported to have been killed in the blast which resulted from an Improvised Explosive Device [IED] planted near the heavily fortified Defense Ministry headquarters in the seaside capital.

The minister was not hurt in the explosion, the latest attack to target a top official in the Western-backed Somali Federal Government based in Mogadishu.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday’s IED blast.

The city has witnessed car bombings and rampant killings in the past few months; some claimed by Al-Shabaab, the Somalia-based Al-Qaeda-linked group amidst tight security and heavy presence of police on the main streets.

The attack came barely a week after the country’s President, Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo carried out a major reshuffle in the security sector and his office as part of efforts to boost security in the Horn of Africa nation.

The president reinstated former SNA chief, General Dahir Aden Elmi, replacing General Abdiweli Jama Gorod who has been the head of the Somali National Army for months. Elmi took the oath of office on Thursday.

The changes come as the Government backed by the AU peacekeeping mission [AMISOM] intensified operations to flush out militants from key locations under their control.

GAROWE ONLINE