IIhan Omar's father dies of Coronavirus-related complications in America

Nur Omar Mohamed, the father to radical US Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, has succumbed to the novel Coronavirus, Ms. Omar announced on her Twitter handle on Tuesday without delving into finer details.

In a statement, Ms. Omar, the Minnesota 5th District representative, said that she couldn't describe the value of her deceased father, adding that he loved and supported many who happened to be close to him.

"Surely we belong to God and to Him shall we return," said Ms. Omar, a critic of President Donald Trump, and an unapologetic progressive Democrat, who became one of the first Muslim to be elected to American Congress.

"It is with tremendous sadness and pain to say goodbye to my father, Nur Omar Mohamed. No words can describe what he meant to me and all who knew and loved him," she added in a tweet, which was accompanied by thousands of condolences by her followers.

Born in Somalia, Mr. Omar had moved out of the country sometimes back in the 90s due to inter-clan conflicts and civil wars, which was occasioned by autocracy that was exercised by Siad Barre, the former Somalia president which was toppled in 1991 from power.

In the company of his family, the elderly man sought refuge in Kenya and was hosted at the Dadaab refugee camp which is situated in Garissa, a remote county in the northeastern part of Kenya. Dadaab hosts thousands of Somalis who are yet to be repatriated to their native Somalia.

The family would later move to the United States of America and were hosted in Minnesota, one of cosmopolitan state in the US, which hosts thousands of Somali refugees. He died in the state last night due to Coronavirus complications, the family said.

In line with Islamic traditions, the elderly citizen will be interred on Tuesday, but the family is yet to release details on the procedure. Dozens of top US government officials could attend due to the fact that Ilhan Omar serves in the US Congress.

The US has been one of the severely hit nations with the COVID-19 pandemic, recording almost 2.2 million infections as of Monday. Of these cases, John Hopkins University data indicate, close to 900,000 have recovered while about 119,000 have since succumbed.

Washington has recently struggled with the virus, leading to endless criticism from a section of Democrats, who accuse him of being an "absentee" President. The Democrats prospective nominee for November polls Joe Biden has been leading the onslaught.

But Trump, who has been pushing for the reopening of the economy, on Monday said the US was recording many cases because "our testing is so much bigger and more advanced than any other country [we have done a great job on this!] that it shows more cases."

"Without testing or weak testing, we would be showing almost no cases. Testing is a double-edged sword - Makes us look bad, but good to have!" he added in a tweet, which has also sparked online criticism from a section of Americans, who accuse him of harboring condescending attitude.

In IIhan's native Somalia, the Horn of Africa nation has also continued to record a spike in the number of cases, forcing authorities in Mogadishu to suspend intentions to re-open the economy. Domestic flights were set to resume last week but have since been delayed.

The country also lost Nur Adde, a former Prime Minister in the defunct Transitional Federal Government of Somalia, after contracting the virus in London. The former leader was buried in London where he had been living.