Somalia: Mortar shells strike Mogadishu's heavily fortified Green Zone

MOGADISHU, Somalia – At least two mortar rounds rocked the heavily fortified Green Zone in Somalia’s capital Mogadishu on Sunday evening, wounding a foreign national, Garowe Online reports.

According to security sources, the mortar shells hit Halane base camp, which hosts the UN’s local headquarters, AMISOM’s main command center and several western embassies, including the U.S.

The Al-Qaeda-affiliated Somalia-based Al-Shabaab group has claimed the responsibility for the mortar attack, saying a number of shells rained down on the compound, causing unspecified casualties.

The shelling, which comes amid tight security measures in the capital was reported to have led the suspension of all flight operations at Aden Adde International Airport in Mogadishu for about half an hour.

The heavily fortified base is one of the few secure areas in the recuperating city.

The AMISOM base camp next to Mogadishu Airport was infiltrated by 'al-Shabaab' militants dressed in Somali army uniforms several times in the past who killed a number of foreign nationals and AU soldiers. 

In November 2019, a prominent rights activist Almaas Elman was shot dead in the sprawling Halane complex as she was riding in a car returning from an EU meeting and her way to the airport to catch a flight to Nairobi. 

Al-Shabaab carried out attacks targeting government installations and AU peacekeeping troops since it was pushed out of Mogadishu in 2011 and several key strategic towns in the south and central Somalia.

GAROWE ONLINE