Somalia forces foil suicide attack in Gedo Province

BARDHEERE, Somalia – Somali security forces foiled on Thursday an attack by a would-be suicide female bomber in the eastern province of Gedo, a provincial security source said, Garowe Online reports.

The incident took place in the morning when an attacker wearing an explosive belt threw a hand grenade in a police station in Bardheere, wounding at least two soldiers before she was shot dead.

Somali troops have recaptured the key town from Al-Shabab in mid-2015 following military offensive supported by Kenyan Defense Forces [KDF], who is serving under the African Union mission in Somalia [AMISOM].

The town lies 341 kilometers [212 miles] west of Mogadishu.

Capt Mohamed Osman, the city’s police chief, told Garowe Online that troops opened fire on and killed the woman when she tried to blow herself up inside station after blasting her way into the premises.

"The forces managed to thwart a suicide attack at Bardheere police station by a female terrorist this morning," the security source said, adding that the soldiers injured in the blast admitted to hospital.

A female suicide bomber attacked Mogadishu municipality HQ on July 24, killing top local government officials, including the mayor, Abdirahman Omar Osman, who succumbed to his wounds at a hospital in Qatar just 7 days after the attack.

Despite repeated military operations in the region, Al-Shabab remnants still hide in rugged areas near the Kenyan border, as well as the sprawling areas, where the group orchestrates cross-border attacks.

The security situation in the province was dramatically improved after Somali security forces flushed the extremist Al-Shabab militants out of strategic areas, including Mogadishu, the country's capital in 2011.

GAROWE ONLINE